Optimal license for Java projects ...

[John Cowan]

David Johnson scripsit:

> You've completely misunderstood the nature of the BSD license. First, 
> commercial parties cannot take source code away any more than they 
> could take water away from an ocean. It may look like they are, but if 
> you check, the free source code is still there and the ocean isn't any 
> smaller. Second, they can't take away their customer's freedom to use 
> improved versions, because the free source code is still there and the 
> ocean is still huge.

This is a verbal quibble.  The BSD license does not take away the
customer's freedom to use *any* improved version whatsoever, because
someone may make an improved version and issue it as free software.
It does take away the customer's freedom to use *every* improved version
whatsoever, because someone may make an improved version and issue it
as non-free software.

The GPL is intended to favor end-users over developers: end-users
always have freedom over all the versions that exist; developers cannot
issue non-free versions.  The BSD is intended to favor developers over
end-users: end-users may or may not have freedom over improved versions;
developers can issue improved versions with any terms they like.

This is not to say that either license actually *disadvantages* either
group, merely that when the interests of one group or another come into
conflict, the two licenses favor one over the other.  And of course the
right to reimplement (sans patent protection) is absolute.

> The point is, your [e&e] scenario has never occured. 

That's not clear.  For example, Microsoft's command-line FTP client
does incorporate BSD-licensed code; at least, a troll through ftp.exe
with "strings" reveals the UCB copyright notice.  It is entirely
unfree.  However, it dates from a day before the "passive" command
was added to the source, and to this day you cannot use the client
to make passive-mode FTP connections.  In this case, Microsoft is
effectively practicing "embrace and dumb down", and there is nothing
users can do about it (except replace the program, since fortunately
it is a userland utility).

-- 
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan at ccil.org
To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all.  There
are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language
that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful.
        --_The Hobbit_
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