From: Clifford Heath <no@...>
Date: 2007-03-15T01:10:05+09:00
Subject: Re: GUI With Ruby

Ellie,

> What this all boils down to at core is this: both BSD and GPL folks are 
> good, decent people. BSD folks like to give gifts to the individual 
> developer whilst GPL folks prefer to give their gifts to the community 
> of end-users

Thanks. This discussion, which I hadn't been following but
just read, was crystallized for me by your thoughtful message.

Here I am, awake again at 2AM, trying to decide whether I made
the right choice in zlib for what (I hope) will be a significant
contribution to both developers and society in general on a new
project - being torn because I want it free, so at least all the
Ruby community can use it, but because I want a share in some of
the financial benefits others may gain from it.

I've always released things under BSD-style licenses, because I
think that if a gift is given, it should be free of obligation
of any significance, i.e. more than mere acknowledgment. I'm
releasing code in Ruby, and I'm happy if that code gets used
without any other obligations.

However, in this case, I think it's quite likely to get cloned
into other languages, and some of those clones will be sold in
their own right, and get used as "proprietary tools of dubious
provenance" that cost both the developer and the end-user... a
lot. If that's going to happen, I want a slice. Perhaps I really
need a patent with some free rights... but I hate that idea too.

Bit of a quandary really... but your message helped. Is there
a license that allows free use and extension of an item, but
restricts other derivations?

Clifford Heath.