[GRASS5] why GPL

[Jan-Oliver Wagner]

On Fri, Mar 23, 2001 at 08:52:58AM -0800, strobe anarkhos wrote:
> Currently there is no framework like this, free OR commercial.
> Commercially it's not viable because the big companies prefer monolithic
> applications where people write specific tools for. However it is viable
> as a generally available framework that no specific company owns the rights to.

please don't mix up Free and Commercial. Free Software is _always_ Commercial
Software - it is a basic element of Freedom to make profit with Free Software.

I want to see many companies having commercial success with GRASS.
But all these companies must share, maintain and improve the same
basis. They differ in type of service and quality.

I don't want to see companies create proprietary elements around GRASS
even if it generates a larger user community. In the long run it would
be the death of GRASS.
I as a developer would stop contributing to GRASS and turn away to another,
Free, GIS project. However, I will not agree to downgrade my code contribution
in GRASS to LGPL.

Strobe, can you explain me in three short sentences why you are not
able to contribute your code under GPL?

Jan

-- 
Jan-Oliver Wagner               http://intevation.de/~jan/

Intevation GmbH	              	     http://intevation.de/
FreeGIS	                               http://freegis.org/

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