Re: GPL traitor !

[Chris Ahlstrom]

After takin' a swig o' grog, Tim Smith belched out
  this bit o' wisdom:

> In article <Iq5Ml.36996$i9.33913@bignews7.bellsouth.net>,
>  Chris Ahlstrom <ahlstromc@launchmodem.com> wrote:
>
>> The fact is that honest people have found the GPL very straightforward and
>> useful, hence its popularity.  IBM legal eagles don't seem to mind it, even
>> if Microsoft found a way to break the spirit, if not the letter, of GPL 2.
>
> What you call "corner cases" are cases that have arisen frequently in 
> the real world, and have been the source of much argument on such places 
> as the Linux kernel mailing list.  GNOME arose from the controversy over 
> one of these "corner cases".  Free, secure email was delayed over one of 
> these "corner cases".  The vast majority of Linux-based cell phones fall 
> into one of these "corner cases", and are violating GPL, according to 
> the interpretation of GPL at fsf.org.
>
> A corner case is (from Wikipedia):
>
>    A corner case (or pathological case) is a problem or situation that 
>    occurs only outside of normal operating parameters ‹ specifically 
>    one that manifests itself when multiple environmental variables or 
>    conditions are simultaneously at extreme levels, even though each 
>    parameter is within the specified range for that parameter.
>
> If the "main meanings" of the GPL are so clear, how come so many people 
> keep hitting these corner cases?  Corner cases are supposed to be rare 
> and hard to hit--not commonly run into like they are with GPL.

And indeed, they are rare, Tim, given the extremely large number of
projects/situations for which there has been no issue.

Why don't you go and condemn law because there have been so many court cases
and press extravaganzas over issues with "the law"?  And yet it covers real
life pretty well.

-- 
You own a dog, but you can only feed a cat.