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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/vaccination.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/vaccination.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e1ced2 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/vaccination.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<title>Viral Code and Vaccination - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/vaccination.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>Viral Code and Vaccination</h2> + +<p>by <strong>Robert J. Chassell</strong></p> + +<p>When others hurt me, I try to defend myself. But some tell me that +this makes them sick. They tell me that I should permit people to rob +me of my work. They tell me that I should never try to defend +myself.</p> + +<p>They tell me that I should stop using the GNU General Public +License, a license that vaccinates me against hurt. Instead, I should +adopt a license that permits other people to rob me with impunity. +They want me to adopt a license that forbids me from fighting back. +They want me to give up my right to benefit from a derivative of my +own work, a right I possess under current copyright law.</p> + +<p>Of course, the language is a little less feverish than this. +Usually, I myself am not called “infectious”. Rather, the +legal defense that I use is called “infectious”. The +license I choose is called “viral”.</p> + +<p>In every day language, words such as “infect” and +“virus” describe disease. The rhetoric is metaphorical. +A legal tool is not a disease organism; but it is popular to think of +the law as an illness, so the metaphor has impact.</p> + +<p>The people who want to rob me use language that says I make them +sick when I stop them from robbing me. They do not want to draw +attention to the so-called “disease” that makes them ill: +my health and my rights, and the health and rights of other people. +Instead, they choose metaphor to twist people's thinking. They do not +want anyone to think that I am a good citizen for stopping crime. +They want the metaphor to fool others into thinking that I am a +disease agent.</p> + +<p>The GNU General Public License protects me. The connotation of +“virus” and “infect” is that my choice of +defense gives an illness to those who want to rob me. I want freedom +from their robbery; but they want the power to hurt me. They get sick +when they cannot hurt me.</p> + +<p>To use another health and illness-related metaphor, the GNU General +Public License <em>vaccinates</em> me; it protects me from theft.</p> + +<p>Note that the theft about which I am talking is entirely legal in +some situations: if you license your work under a modified BSD +license, or a similar license, then others may legally take your work, +make fixes or improvements to it, and forbid you from using that +code. I personally dislike this arrangement, but it exists.</p> + +</div> +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> + +<p> +Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><em>gnu@gnu.org</em></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. +<br /> +Please send broken links and other corrections or suggestions to +<a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><em>webmasters@gnu.org</em></a>. +</p> + +<p> +Please see the +<a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting +translations of this article. +</p> + +<p> +Copyright © 2008, 2014 Robert J. Chassell +</p> +<p>Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are +permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this +notice, and the copyright notice, are preserved. +</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p>Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2014/04/04 23:31:06 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> + +</div> +</body> +</html> |