Re: New Software License idea: "The Freedom License."

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

Karen Hill wrote:
> 
> Hello.
> 
> I have been thinking about all the problems the GPL causes.  My
> solution is a new license called the "Freedom License".  Here it is:
> 
> THE FREEDOM LICENSE

[Yawn]

Go ahead and release your s/w under whatever license you want. Nobody is
stopping you from doing so. 

However, once someone else has chosen a particular license under which
to release their work, you've got to respect their decision. If its the
GPL and you revise it, its got to stay under the GPL. If you don't like
it, write your own s/w and license it as you please. If its that good,
it will replace the GPL'd version, which will gradually disappear from
the marketplace.
  
> Preamble:
> 
> What are the problems with the GPL and how does this new license solve
> them?  Many experienced software developers know about the GPL and the
> BSD style Licenses (apache, bsd, mozilla, cddl etc).  The BSD License,
> for those who don't know,  allows one to do whatever one wishes with
> the code, including relicensing it IIRC.  Frequently, a GPL coder will
> take BSD licensed code, add a modification or two and release the whole
> thing as GPL.   This new creation will be unavailable to the BSD user
> to modify as they see fit under a BSD license.

Then the BSD gang can just take the baseline code and create their own
version of the app. and keep it under BSD license. Or whatever license
they desire.


-- 
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
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