Re: [ba-unrev-talk] GPL?
Eric Armstrong wrote: (01)
> Scenario:
> Label: Part of
> Situation: A GPL word processor and spreadsheet are available
> separately, for free. An entrepreneur puts them both
> together into a single downloadable package, and
> charges for it. (02)
On the other hand, a counter case occurred to me this morning.
Suppose I gave a way a text editor for free, and 10,000 people
scarfed it up and started reselling it. They would all be marketing
their package (which might be the editor, all by itself), and even
with google, the free version I made available would never be
visible. (03)
Of course... (04)
I would presumbablyget the bug reports -- which would build a
huge list of people interested in the next version. I could sell *that*
version. That's the shareware premise, in a nutshell. Letting others
resell the original version would simply create customers for the
upgrade. (05)
I think the matter is partly a matter of contract law, too. (I'm thinking
of land, in this case.) Is it even *possible* to sell or give away with
encumbrances that persist forever -- abridging the rights of the
recipient to use or resell the land in certain ways, in such a way that
the encumbrances persist forever, attaching themselves to each new
recipient?? (06)
And even if that were possible, would that necessarily be a good
thing? A lot can change in a a couple of hundred years.... (07)