I heart GPL
2005.11.03
GPL 3.0 is going to be developed in a significantly more open manner than her predecessors, but still, the rewrite drive will not be a democracy. We don’t call it to be either - the FOSS community knows very well that, over the years, FSF seems to be the only organization that has held to it’s guns, much like it’s leader, the legendary RMS.
Sometimes it’s not the case with even the best of our community elders. Some even say that we don’t need the GPL anymore. Fortunately, the community knows better.
For small companies like Vesess who are in to small scale systems in the software domain, and who are willing to release their products to the community, the GPL is an essential weapon in their arsenal. For example, currently we are developing a bespoke system for an NGO, which we intend to release under the GPL. It would be absurd to expect a large group of FOSS freaks to help us develop a custom designed application for a specific client from whom we are charging for the system. If the system happens to be good (something we try hard to achieve) and there’s potential in it, the only thing that protects us from being leeched by a competitor is the good old license.
Why release such a customized product under a Free Software license? We’re not doing it for the pragmatic benefits of the open source development model, because that’s not how the system is being developed - a small team of developers are hacking it in a very cathedral way until the first release. We do it only because it’s the right thing to do. Infact, convincing the client that GPLing the system was a better option for them was a major part of the initial discussions.
Strange as it may seem, there are many businesses that value the freedom of their customers. They don’t want to apply vendor locks, but they don’t want to be leeched either. For them, GPL is not an option; it’s a necessity.
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Takuya
November 6th, 2005 at 5:43 am
Sounds like a wonderful contribution to the NGO!