[openip] Re: GNU License for Hardware

Richard Stallman rms at gnu.org
Sat Oct 23 16:10:43 UTC 1999


    > If people have to pay per copy, then the program is not free software,
    > and it is also not open source software.

    I do not get that.

That is part of the definition of free software: users must be allowed
to run it without having to pay for permission.  That includes all
users, whatever their purpose.

The definition of open source software includes essentially the same
criterion, expressed with different words.

I suggest you look at the definition of free software
(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) and the definition of
open source software (somewhere on http://www.opensource.org/) and try
again to understand what they are meant to say.

    For me it will never be an option to work and to give my work away for 
    nothing. (I did it often enough and allways got ripped off)

Then your software won't be free software, and we won't use it.

If you don't want to develop free software, we can't force you to do
that.  However, free software and open source software are what
these lists are about.  If you're not interested in doing that,
I guess we're not the people you're looking for.





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