[Discuss] Profiting from GPL software

[mark at buttery.org (Shirley Márquez Dúlcey)]

> You are forced to use the GPL for your changes even if you might not want to
> use this license. You are required to provide the source code upon demand at
> no or minimal cost even if the practical cost is relatively prohibitive.
> GPLv3 strips you of the legal right to protect your copyrights via technical
> mechanisms. You cannot distribute under non-disclosure. Any patents you may
> have regarding the GPL'd work are automatically licensed to those who
> receive the GPL'd work.

Like many things, there is a fundamental conflict of rights between
the rights of the CREATOR of something and the rights of the USER of
something, or between the seller and the buyer. The GPL is oriented
toward protecting the user's rights rather than the creator's rights.
There is an additional thread of protecting the rights of the original
creator (assuming the wish of the creator is to allow the kind of user
freedom that the GPL promotes) over the rights of people who choose to
modify GPL software (to commercialize and lock it down it in ways that
the original creator does not want it to be commercialized).

It is often impossible to protect everybody's right to do everything.
Two classic examples: your right to swing your arms around freely end
where my face begins, and you do not have an unfettered right to shout
fire in a crowded theater. A more real example is the shifting public
opinion on smoking; at one time the focus was primarily on the
smoker's right to smoke, but now it is mostly about the right of
non-smokers to not breathe tobacco smoke.

The GPL is a way of codifying a particular balance of rights. People
disagree over whether it is the correct balance of creator and user
rights. I believe that people who share RMS's opinions have the right
to insist that their work be used in the manner prescribed by the GPL,
and that the GPLv3 is a more accurate expression of the original
intent of the GPL than previous versions were. I also believe that
other software creators have the right to release software under
licenses that balance creator and user rights differently.