compatibility and the OSD

Marius Amado Alves amado.alves at netcabo.pt
Tue Sep 28 22:49:36 UTC 2004


>>I agree with Alex Rousskov's point.  There are plenty of people on this 
>>list who were doing open source long before Bruce Perens came up with the 
>>predecessor to the OSD in 1997.  
> 
> Despite having the gravest of respect, warmest and friendliest regard,
> and best wishes for your no doubt admirable opinions, I am obliged to
> remind you that antecedent discussion concerned the _term_ "open source"
> (in the software context), not _doing_ open source.

I myself did open source and *used the term* long before 1997.

As to the arguments and accusations, they are not new, they were rebuted 
before, publicly, and they are in public archives.

Actually the SDC group is now tending to drop the term.

But unfortunately one factor is a desire of separation for the kind of 
fanatism expressed here.

Fortunately open source strives not because of that fanatism, but 
inspite of it.

Fortunately this list conveys also sensible positions.

The spirit of open source is: the right to fork.

The spirit of copyright is: reward the authors.

The spirit of fair source is the reconciliation of these two.

Everything else follows, and is legal detail.

The current discussion brought nothing new.

That's not bad, it's good, a sign that concepts have stabilized.

Thanks all.




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