[openip] Re: GNU License for Hardware

[Bruce Perens]

>>>>> "Bernard" == Bernard Lang <Bernard.Lang at inria.fr> writes:

    >> Most people prefer 'free' software where the author states:
    >> "you can do what ever you want provided you leave this notice
    >> intact".

    Bernard> No !

From: "Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull at sk.tsukuba.ac.jp>
> A pox on both your innumerate houses.
> 
> URL to the survey data, please.  Preferable several such, conducted by 
> different and independent 3rd parties.
> 
> Data on packages by license would also be acceptable as a stand-in.

It makes sense that the end-user in general would prefer a "do anything
you want" license.  The important point is that the _author_ often
doesn't prefer this license, and since one of the most sensitive areas
of Open Source is providing the author an incentive to write for no pay,
we have to listen to their license preferences.

Going by the freshmeat announcements, GPL is extremely popular. On any day,
more than half of the announcements refer to GPL software. I'm assuming that
_active_ free software projects have been registered on freshmeat. This doesn't
mean BSD "ls" or other projects that were finished years ago and have little
active development today. Most of those were done with government funding.

	Thanks

	Bruce