"Open Source" Motif

[Raul Miller]

Raul Miller wrote:
> > But, if you're trying to produce free (aka non-proprietary) software I
> > think the GPL winds up being the best license:

On Tue, May 16, 2000 at 12:43:41PM +0100, Dj wrote:
> Or more accurately, if you are trying to induce people to produce free
> software by licensing your software...

Why "more accurately"? I can see this as a vaugely plausible goal, a
secondary effect that probably won't happen. But I don't see it as more
important than the freedom of the software being licensed.

> > Then again, if your goal is to produce something proprietary, or
> > potentially proprietary, the GPL is obviously a bad license to use.
>
> Or to produce something that is "aproprietary" - it doesn't care
> wether it is owned or not.

True. If you want to produce something that can be proprietary but
doesn't have to be, then the GPL is a bad choice.

> The BSD license has not stopped people doing proprietary development
> or free development on BSD'd works. What operates there is the
> economics of proprietary branching, where it's cheaper to work with
> the community than develop alone.

There is some truth to this. On the other hand, I'm personally
responsible for a dozen BSD machines where I can't even look at the
sources for the software running on machines.

> The real question is do we want an open inclusive community or a
> parallel-to - proprietary exclusive community.

The real question is about a parallel? Frankly, that sounds more
like a rhetorical question than anything else. I think that the real
question is: should Motif be a standard which can be used in proprietary
software.

And, I think the answer to this is yes.

> I'd like to see Motif opened with eventually a BSD license. And CDE
> too... :)

I have no problems with this.  On the other hand, I think it is worth considering
the possibility of dual-licensing Motif, with GPL and the original Motif
license being choosable by the licensee.  The issue here is: would this
generate enough revenue to be worth bothering with?

-- 
Raul