If most developers contribute to open-source projects because they want to, rather than because they're forced to, why do we have the GNU General Public License?
Full story »If most developers contribute to open-source projects because they want to, rather than because they're forced to, why do we have the GNU General Public License?
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15 years 11 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago
Open Source misses the point of Free Software
We free software activists will say this again: Open Source misses the point of Free Software. While it is not wrong to call the GNU General Public License (GPL) an open source licence, the GPL was never intended to be an open source licence. Ever since the beginning, the GPL has always intended to be a free software licence. This means that any recipient of GPL software (software that is licensed under the GPL) will have the implied liberty to practise the four freedoms of free software.
The GPL is about the user's freedom. The GPL isn't about attracting wide adoption.