Re: lynx-dev On invitations and pressure

[Klaus Weide]

On Tue, 9 Feb 1999, Philip Webb wrote:
> 990205 David Woolley opined: 
> > the GPL is often used because other people do it.
> > many people have used it without really reading and understanding it;
> > they have a vague concept of what they consider free
> > which may often not actually comply with the FSF's definition.
> > Only in the last year have those who do read the GPL started to rebel
> > and there has been a lot of discussion about alternative licenses;
> > the term "open source" is an attempt to avoid the connotations
> > put on "free" by the FSF.
> 
> there is a bit of Orwell in the FSF's use of `free'.
> i'ld still like to know who owns & controls FSF
> & how far its copyrights are enforceable in law & in real life.

If you would still like to know, then maybe you should ask those
questions in the right place, instead of just periodically
broadcasting to this list that you haven't done so.

> > in the case of Lynx, those who now understand are beginning to regret it
> > in the area of the Secure Sockets Layer;
> > it is not nice to have to tell people that you cannnot supply,
> > what is becoming an essential function,
> > in part because of the licence under which the code is distributed.
> > the current dominant market for "free" (used loosely) software is
> > Windows 95 users, who have no capability to, nor any  interest in
> > building from source (or assembling systems from components),
> > & most see no distinction between downloading a binary of GPLed software,
> > & closed source, proprietory, software like Internet Explorer.
> > they are both things they download from the internet
> > with no legal requirement to handover money and then install and run.
> > They don't understand why IE should support SSL and Lynx not,
> > and either abandon Lynx or get an illegal copy,
> > rather than complaining to their senator about patent law.
>  
> this is a very important issue.
> what would be involved in changing the licensing of Lynx?

First, decide what you want to change it to.
Second, get approval from all who have contributed.

   Klaus