vaccination.html (4916B)
1 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> 2 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> 3 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> 4 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="thirdparty" --> 5 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> 6 <title>Viral Code and Vaccination - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> 7 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/vaccination.translist" --> 8 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> 9 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --> 10 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> 11 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> 12 <div class="article reduced-width"> 13 <h2>Viral Code and Vaccination</h2> 14 15 <address class="byline">by Robert J. Chassell</address> 16 17 <p>When others hurt me, I try to defend myself. But some tell me that 18 this makes them sick. They tell me that I should permit people to rob 19 me of my work. They tell me that I should never try to defend 20 myself.</p> 21 22 <p>They tell me that I should stop using the GNU General Public 23 License, a license that vaccinates me against hurt. Instead, I should 24 adopt a license that permits other people to rob me with impunity. 25 They want me to adopt a license that forbids me from fighting back. 26 They want me to give up my right to benefit from a derivative of my 27 own work, a right I possess under current copyright law.</p> 28 29 <p>Of course, the language is a little less feverish than this. 30 Usually, I myself am not called “infectious.” Rather, the 31 legal defense that I use is called “infectious.” The 32 license I choose is called “viral.”</p> 33 34 <p>In every day language, words such as “infect” and 35 “virus” describe disease. The rhetoric is metaphorical. 36 A legal tool is not a disease organism; but it is popular to think of 37 the law as an illness, so the metaphor has impact.</p> 38 39 <p>The people who want to rob me use language that says I make them 40 sick when I stop them from robbing me. They do not want to draw 41 attention to the so-called “disease” that makes them ill: 42 my health and my rights, and the health and rights of other people. 43 Instead, they choose metaphor to twist people's thinking. They do not 44 want anyone to think that I am a good citizen for stopping crime. 45 They want the metaphor to fool others into thinking that I am a 46 disease agent.</p> 47 48 <p>The GNU General Public License protects me. The connotation of 49 “virus” and “infect” is that my choice of 50 defense gives an illness to those who want to rob me. I want freedom 51 from their robbery; but they want the power to hurt me. They get sick 52 when they cannot hurt me.</p> 53 54 <p>To use another health and illness-related metaphor, the GNU General 55 Public License <em>vaccinates</em> me; it protects me from theft.</p> 56 57 <p>Note that the theft about which I am talking is entirely legal in 58 some situations: if you license your work under a modified BSD 59 license, or a similar license, then others may legally take your work, 60 make fixes or improvements to it, and forbid you from using that 61 code. I personally dislike this arrangement, but it exists.</p> 62 </div> 63 64 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> 65 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> 66 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> 67 <div class="unprintable"> 68 69 <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a 70 href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a 71 href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other 72 corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a 73 href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> 74 75 <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, 76 replace it with the translation of these two: 77 78 We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality 79 translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. 80 Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard 81 to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> 82 <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> 83 84 <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of 85 our web pages, see <a 86 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 87 README</a>. --> 88 Please see the <a 89 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for 90 information on coordinating and contributing translations of this article.</p> 91 </div> 92 93 <p> 94 Copyright © 2008 Robert J. Chassell 95 </p> 96 <p>Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are 97 permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this 98 notice, and the copyright notice, are preserved. 99 </p> 100 101 <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> 102 103 <p class="unprintable">Updated: 104 <!-- timestamp start --> 105 $Date: 2021/09/16 16:30:32 $ 106 <!-- timestamp end --> 107 </p> 108 </div> 109 </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> 110 </body> 111 </html>