[OT] Re: iPod support in Linux

[thufir]

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:49:16 +0100, Avi Greenbury wrote:

>> > I'd imagine that someone that does would go with a BSD licensed OS,
>> > given the greater degrees of freedom for the user
>> 
>> I assume you compare the BSD license to the GPL. However, the user has
>> the same rights with both licenses. The GPL states specifically that
>> use is outside of the scope of the license.
>> 
>> The only difference is for developers who want to distribute code they
>> didn't write.
>> 
>> 
> OK, I meant 'developers'.

The BSD and Apache licenses are often preferred by companies -- IBM 
wanted Sun to release Java under an Apache style license.  Why?  With an 
Apache or BSD type license, IBM can take the sun code, change it as they 
please and distribute the results *without* releasing the new source code 
back to the community.  The GPL stops that practice.

On a side note, Sun's purchase of MySQL exemplifies how to make a buck 
from GPL'ed software (at least for MySQL, dunno if Sun will ultimately 
make a dollar of profit from that billion they spent).


-Thufir