Re: [Xouvert-general] License question

[Massimo Santoro]

On Tuesday 19 August 2003 02:25, William Lahti wrote:

> I would like it to be GPLed too, but that would hinder our ability to
> recontribute the code back to XFree86.

This is the major problem in forking & changing license to GPL. Changing 
license to GPL would make the fork even "worse", but what I was wondering if 
this "worse" would be really bad or not for a faster and better improvement 
of a graphical system for un*x machines.

IMHO two things might happen if the "GPL way" is chosen:

1 - hypothesizing, in a not distant future, the development of Xouvers 
outclassing XFree86, this would probably reunite the projects again, this 
time under the GPL. The outclassing in software forks has many precedents 
(GCC/EGCS maybe the most famous one) and almost always a unique "winner". 

2 - if things won't be "good" for Xouvert (developers and people not really 
interested therefore lack of interest in developing it), we will say "at 
least we gave it a try" and being the Xouvert Team the "author" of the 
Xouvert project, can change license to X11 and "reunite" the projects again 
contributing back.


Therefore, unless the will of continuously donating sources to XFree86 is 
strong among the Xouvert Team, I believe there is really chance to make X 
GPL.

Massimo Santoro