diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/gpl-american-way.html')
-rw-r--r-- | talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/gpl-american-way.html | 181 |
1 files changed, 181 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/gpl-american-way.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/gpl-american-way.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b35ea7e --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/gpl-american-way.html @@ -0,0 +1,181 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> +<title>The GNU GPL and the American Way +- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/gpl-american-way.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> + +<h2>The GNU GPL and the American Way</h2> + +<p>by <strong>Richard M. Stallman</strong></p> + +<p> +Microsoft describes the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) as an +“open source” license, and says it is against the American +Way. To understand the GNU GPL, and recognize how it embodies the +American Way, you must first be aware that the GPL was not designed +for open source.</p> +<p> +The Open Source Movement, which was launched in 1998, aims to develop +powerful, reliable software and improved technology, by inviting the +public to collaborate in software development. Many developers in +that movement use the GNU GPL, and they are welcome to use it. But +the ideas and logic of the GPL cannot be found in the Open Source +Movement. They stem from the deeper goals and values of the Free +Software Movement.</p> +<p> +The Free Software Movement was founded in 1984, but its inspiration +comes from the ideals of 1776: freedom, community, and voluntary +cooperation. This is what leads to free enterprise, to free speech, +and to free software.</p> +<p> +As in “free enterprise” and “free speech”, the +“free” in “free software” refers to freedom, +not price; specifically, it means that you have the freedom to study, +change, and redistribute the software you use. These freedoms permit +citizens to help themselves and help each other, and thus participate +in a community. This contrasts with the more common proprietary +software, which keeps users helpless and divided: the inner workings +are secret, and you are prohibited from sharing the program with your +neighbor. Powerful, reliable software and improved technology are +useful byproducts of freedom, but the freedom to have a community is +important in its own right.</p> +<p> +We could not establish a community of freedom in the land of +proprietary software where each program had its lord. We had to build +a new land in cyberspace—the free software GNU operating system, +which we started writing in 1984. In 1991, when GNU was almost +finished, the kernel Linux written by Linus Torvalds filled the last +gap; soon the free GNU/Linux system was available. Today millions of +users use GNU/Linux and enjoy the benefits of freedom and community.</p> +<p> +I designed the GNU GPL to uphold and defend the freedoms that define +free software—to use the words of 1776, it establishes them as +inalienable rights for programs released under the GPL. It ensures +that you have the freedom to study, change, and redistribute the +program, by saying that nobody is authorized to take these freedoms +away from you by redistributing the program under a restrictive +license.</p> +<p> +For the sake of cooperation, we encourage others to modify and extend +the programs that we publish. For the sake of freedom, we set the +condition that these modified versions of our programs must respect +your freedom just like the original version. We encourage two-way +cooperation by rejecting parasites: whoever wishes to copy parts of +our software into his program must let us use parts of that program in +our programs. Nobody is forced to join our club, but those who wish +to participate must offer us the same cooperation they receive from +us. That makes the system fair.</p> +<p> +Millions of users, tens of thousands of developers, and companies as +large as IBM, Intel, and Sun, have chosen to participate on this +basis. But some companies want the advantages without the +responsibilities.</p> +<p> +From time to time, companies have said to us, “We would make an +improved version of this program if you allow us to release it without +freedom.” We say, “No thanks—your improvements might +be useful if they were free, but if we can't use them in freedom, they +are no good at all.” Then they appeal to our egos, saying that +our code will have “more users” inside their proprietary +programs. We respond that we value our community's freedom more than +an irrelevant form of popularity.</p> +<p> +Microsoft surely would like to have the benefit of our code without +the responsibilities. But it has another, more specific purpose in +attacking the GNU GPL. Microsoft is known generally for imitation +rather than innovation. When Microsoft does something new, its +purpose is strategic—not to improve computing for its users, but +to close off alternatives for them.</p> +<p> +Microsoft uses an anticompetitive strategy called “embrace and +extend”. This means they start with the technology others are +using, add a minor wrinkle which is secret so that nobody else can +imitate it, then use that secret wrinkle so that only Microsoft +software can communicate with other Microsoft software. In some +cases, this makes it hard for you to use a non-Microsoft program when +others you work with use a Microsoft program. In other cases, this +makes it hard for you to use a non-Microsoft program for job A if you +use a Microsoft program for job B. Either way, “embrace and +extend” magnifies the effect of Microsoft's market power.</p> +<p> +No license can stop Microsoft from practicing “embrace and +extend” if they are determined to do so at all costs. If they +write their own program from scratch, and use none of our code, the +license on our code does not affect them. But a total rewrite is +costly and hard, and even Microsoft can't do it all the time. Hence +their campaign to persuade us to abandon the license that protects our +community, the license that won't let them say, “What's yours is +mine, and what's mine is mine.” They want us to let them take +whatever they want, without ever giving anything back. They want us +to abandon our defenses.</p> +<p> +But defenselessness is not the American Way. In the land of the brave +and the free, we defend our freedom with the GNU GPL.</p> + +<h4>Addendum:</h4> + +<p> +Microsoft says that the GPL is against “intellectual property +rights.” I have no opinion on “intellectual property +rights,” because the term is too broad to have a sensible +opinion about. It is a catch-all, covering copyrights, patents, +trademarks, and other disparate areas of law; areas so different, in +the laws and in their effects, that any statement about all of them at +once is surely simplistic. To think intelligently about copyrights, +patents or trademarks, you must think about them separately. The +first step is declining to lump them together as “intellectual +property”.</p> +<p> +My views about copyright take an hour to expound, but one general +principle applies: it cannot justify denying the public important +freedoms. As Abraham Lincoln put it, “Whenever there is a +conflict between human rights and property rights, human rights must +prevail.” Property rights are meant to advance human well-being, +not as an excuse to disregard it.</p> +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a +href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a +href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other +corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a +href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for +information on coordinating and submitting translations of this article.</p> +</div> + +<p>Copyright © 2001 Richard M. Stallman</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2014/04/12 12:40:09 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |