Does GPL hurt free software? | Hacker News Reader

Does GPL hurt free software?

250bpm.com

5 pointsuggedal8 comments

This blog post was obviously done without even a few minutes of research. Developers have different and valid reasons for choosing BSD vs GPL/LGPL. BSD lets the developer give up any and all control and lets everyone do whatever they want with code/software. The GPL lets the developer share but enforce that the code/software will remain Free/open. Lots of folks who develop in their spare time like contributing but don't want someone taking their work and closing it up, commercializing it and making money off of it without contributing back to the overall community. There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license.

Yup. The "spite" motivation. The question is how strong an incentive spite is. Things like money or fame are better in motivating people IMO.

It's not about spite. It's about preserving the motivation to continue developing free software. It's nice thinking that the fruits of my labor will benefit everyone and that derivative efforts will as well.

The GPL gets an awful lot of flack from a community that owes it so much and I truly don't understand why.

Greed and selfishness play a role. Some folks like being able to take things without having to give in return. And they get frustrated when they find an awesome library that does what they want but they can't use it in their paid/closed product because it is GPLed. And there isn't an equivalent BSD/MIT licensed library. There are equivalent commercial libraries, but they cost money. So the dev winds up complaining about the GPL.

While I suspected as much, I figure it's worth asking in case there is a nobler reason that I'm simply unaware of. I don't want to presume too much.

"There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license."

Is it? I honestly don't know, but my gut feeling is that I run across the MIT license more often these days. Maybe it's just an artifact of the stuff I do?

It is, by a large margin: http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/

This is more thinking out loud - stumbling out loud - than a definitive understanding.

The blogger should blog again when the confusion has cleared.

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