From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,ac39a12d5faf5b14 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-04-22 18:46:52 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!colt.net!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!psiuk-p2!psiuk-p3!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Development process in the Ada community Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 11:11:57 -0400 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: References: <5ee5b646.0204200830.2bd258d2@posting.google.com> <5ee5b646.0204201703.48832bd3@posting.google.com> <87vgalbetj.fsf@deneb.enyo.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1019488320 26495 136.170.200.133 (22 Apr 2002 15:12:00 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 22 Apr 2002 15:12:00 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:22945 Date: 2002-04-22T15:12:00+00:00 List-Id: The problem with any license is that once it gets expensive enough or restrictive enough, sooner or later someone says "Go Pound Sand!" If someone says "Here's Library X under the GPL..." and Microsoft doesn't want to be forced into GPL'ing their stuff just to use Library X, they're going to go hire a few dozen programmers and say "Go make me something that looks kind of like this..." They certainly have the money they need not to be cornered into using someone else's stuff for lack of ability to build one of their own. Hoping that one day they'll accidentally include some GPL'ed code into Microsoft Office and be forced to release their source is probably unrealistic. I don't begrudge Microsoft using any license they like and I seriously doubt that the bulk of their customers care if they get the source code or not. If you don't like their license - go buy something else. That's the free market system. Maybe one day the Open Source crowd will have everyone using their products and insisting they get the source or they won't buy and Microsoft will go the way of Studebaker. I'm just not going to hold my breath waiting for that event. :-) MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com "Florian Weimer" wrote in message news:87vgalbetj.fsf@deneb.enyo.de... > > Of course they use the GPL only if they have to (e.g. for parts of > Interix), but they pay at least one person for working on free > software which is licensed under the BSD license (and no, it doesn't > run only on Windows)...