[CS-FSLUG] TD: (Im)morality of (non)free software

[Aaron Lehmann]

I've started this thread so that Don can talk about the immorality of
closed-source software, and so I can talk about the immorality of the
GPL.

The GPL is immoral, because it forces those who extend the author's code
to use the GPL (or compatible?) if they decide to release their code.
This seems to me to be the height of arrogance.  It is essentially
saying, "I wrote the base for your work, so you must not close your
extension of it.  Further, you must put the same restrictions on anyone
who might extend YOUR code."  I recognize that this protects the
so-called rights of users to information, but at the expense of the
rights of developers and maintainers to make use of their own labor for
their own ends.  It is essentially muzzling the ox as he treads the
grain.  It results in people needlessly duplicating code (anathema to
developers) so that they won't be bound by a hypocritical and
restrictive liscense.  The fruit of my labor is MINE.  If I wish to
release it into the common domain, or otherwise allow others to profit
from my labor, that is my privelage.  I don't have the right to force
others to give away their labor, anymore than anyone has the right to
force me to give up mine.

As a user, I have the right to use whatever tool does the job best.  I
write code in vim, my window manager is ratpoison, and I do all my
chatting through irssi.  This is my choice, but not one I have the right
to force on others.  I don't have the right to claim your tools are
worse for your use just because they would be worse for mine than my
current suite.

Aaron Lehmann