Gary Jefferson sent me a note regarding my recent post on GPL3, which I reproduce here with his permission. I'll respond shortly:

Regarding "Part II: GPL3 In the World But Not of the World," I think you've looked beyond the mark.

The free software community, particularly that contingent of it that are big fans of the GPL, *never claimed* to be solving any customer needs. Most true free software is not started to address marketplace demands or revenue models. This is true of Linux, Apache, Sendmail, et. al. So your point about them not being "accountable" to their most successful customers, is, well, nonsensical.

Sure, Amazon and Google found the arrangement profitable, but the creation and maintenance of free software is not contingent on any of those companies' continued use of free software. Indeed, I imagine that most of the core developers who write Linux, Apache, Sendmail, et. al. couldn't care less rather Google switched to BSD tomorrow, or Amazon to IIS. Since neither Amazon nor Google *pay* for those technologies by contributing their improvements back to the development community, in fact, the developers would likely be just as happy to see them go.

Does Microsoft wring its hands over the lost 'customers' that go away when piracy busts remove illegal MS OSes and Applications from their hands? No, because those 'customers' weren't paying for the software in the first place. Likewise, free software 'customers' who make modifications to the software and use those modifications as key components of their business, are in many ways just 'pirates,' stealing the fruit of the labor of hundreds of open source developers without recompense.

I find it extremely odd that ipcentral universally champions strong intellectual property rights across the board, but when it comes to software developers, you all think we shouldn't be able to license our copyrighted creations under our own terms. The attitude is particularly astounding regarding the GPL, which gives *all* users of the software rights in addition to those normally granted by copyright and fair use.

Gary

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 9:12 AM | Markets: Business, Investment & Innovation, Software

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