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Understanding the GPL

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Lee:
Hi guys. This is a long one.
 
I am new to

worker201:
Read this essay by demigod ESR first:
http://catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/

It will shed new light on some of those deeper issues.

The GPL basically states that if you use GPLed code in your project, you have to release the source.  So, using your cloning metaphor, if you cloned a pair of GPLed speakers and released them as your own, you would have to include the schematic diagrams from the original speakers.  The only point of the GPL is to prevent companies like Microsoft from stealing GNU code and closing the source.  The source has to stay open for modification.

It's hard to understand this from a technocratic viewpoint.  Microsoft wants to exploit you by taking your money, and giving you as little as possible in return for your money.  The GNU, in general, is composed of people who like making cool software, and want you to be able to use their cool software.  They would probably write it even if they didn't see a dime, whereas Microsoft would never do anything that it saw as completely unprofitable.  So, when you look at it without the distorting lenses of bourgeois captialism, things become much clearer.

hm_murdock:
Something to think about... if you like the Mac, you don't need to think about the GPL much... conversely, if you like the GPL, and really go for it a lot, then it's quite possible you'll be unhappy with Apple.

worker201:

--- Quote from: hm_murdock ---Something to think about... if you like the Mac, you don't need to think about the GPL much... conversely, if you like the GPL, and really go for it a lot, then it's quite possible you'll be unhappy with Apple.
--- End quote ---


Want to expand on that a little bit?  I don't quite understand what you mean.  As a home Apple user and work Linux user, I'm curious as to what you are saying, and whether or not I agree.

hm_murdock:
A lot of GPL purists don't care for Apple, therefore, if he's mainly interested in GPL software, as it seems from his question, it is something to consider. There is of course, nothing stopping him from installing Linux on his Mac.

That's also a way to alleviate the first point. If you use a Mac, you end up not thinking of GPL much. There's quite a bit of Mac-specific software, commercial and free. Much of the free stuff may be GPL'd, but in the Mac community, there's not such a big emphasis on the importance of the GPL. As a fellow Mac guy, I'm sure you've seen that.

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