Picking a license

[Robert Kern]

On 2010-05-15 22:05 , Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> In message
> <ca0d6fd3-4883-4a82-bbea-a33c283c42a9 at d12g2000vbr.googlegroups.com>, Patrick
> Maupin wrote:
>
>> On May 14, 9:21 pm, Lawrence D'Oliveiro<l... at geek-
>> central.gen.new_zealand>  wrote:
>>
>>> In message<mailman.180.1273860694.32709.python-l... at python.org>, Ed
>>> Keith wrote:
>>>
>>>> I just refuse to use [the GPL] in any code for a client, because I
>>>> do not want to require someone who does not know source code from Morse
>>>> code code to figure out what they need to do to avoid violating the
>>>> license.
>>>
>>> Why don’t you just put the source code on the same disc you send them,
>>> and tell them to pass copies of the entire disc to anyone they want?
>>
>> What you would really have to tell them is "don't pass along the
>> program *unless* you copy the whole disk."  That's no longer a
>> courtesy -- that's a mandate.  By not using the GPL, Ed avoids having
>> to mandate to his customer how to treat the software he has delivered
>> to them.
>
> But that’s what “copyright” means, it means “right to copy”. It’s his right
> to impose terms on how copies of stuff he created are treated.

It's also his right to choose which terms to impose, depending on the client and 
project. If he doesn't think the GPL serves his goals, then he shouldn't use it. 
It shouldn't matter to him how well it serves your goals or how unburdensome you 
personally find the GPL's requirements.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco