Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> ____/ Peter Köhlmann on Thursday 29 November 2007 15:57 : \____
>
>> Mark Kent wrote:
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>> ____/ Thufir on Thursday 22 November 2007 11:18 : \____
>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:06:14 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>>>> | News Analysis: Open mobile platforms, such as Google's Android,
>>>>>> | should
>>>>>> usher | in a tidal wave of development that could change the industry.
>>>>>> `----
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I for one am dissapointed that Android isn't GPL. Doesn't it use Linux?
>>>>
>>>> Yes, but the licence isn't /that/ bad. I thought it would be proprietary
>>>> when the rumours began about 6 months ago (starting with Java, then
>>>> Linux). It's a good start. Was it an Apache licence? I can't recall for
>>>> sure.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Not being GPLv3 will serve Google badly in the long run.
>
> If they decided to choose the GPL, then yes. The GPL is a developer's approach
> to rights. There are loopholes in GPLv2 that do not protect those rights.
>
>> Bullshit, naturally
>> Software will not be "better" by some magic and fairy dust just because a
>> GPL licence is attached to it
>
> Well, that's true. You have to remember, however, that to a developer a device
> like OpenMoko can become more appealing than Android/'gPhone' devices. It
> gives the developer more control over the stack he or she is relying on.
GPL licences ensure that people contribute back. By its nature,
therefore, it's more likely to result in better code than non-GPL
licences do.
Hence my point.
>
> Think about development for proprietary Java (before GPLv2) or even something
> like Silverlight. Your code ceases to have any value at all once the stack
> which it relies on simply dies. There is a lot of code out there that can no
> longer be run, or the stack it relies on modified and redistributed (no
> control). It kills the software. It makes it a bunch of arbitrary blocks of
> code.
>
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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