On Sun, 25 Feb 2007, Sidney Cammeresi wrote:

> On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 at 09.13.48 -0600, Mike Miller wrote:
>
>> I think "more power to them" is a good way of putting it.  If we 
>> produce code that can be used within proprietary, binaries-only 
>> software, then we are aiding the promoters of the proprietary model -- 
>> empowering them -- and this is not good for the FOSS movement.  The GPL 
>> is better for FOSS than is the BSD license because of this.
>
> If you want to use the GPL, go right ahead, but please don't call GPLed 
> software `free.' It is far from `free as in free speech' because there 
> are a large number of uses which the GPL does not allow.  Calling the 
> GPL `free' in light of this is simply an attempt to confuse the issue.

That is a very original and peculiar interpretation, not in keeping with 
anything I have read in the past.  Calling it "free" is not an attempt to 
confuse anything - it was called "free" by Stallman from the beginning and 
for good reason.  The BSD license is less free than the GPL because the 
BSD-licensed code can be captured and imprisoned in binary files where you 
are not allowed to access it.  The GPL code remains free.


>    Poor Richard!  He led the way into free software but is now trying to
>    hold us back as we stream past him into a future of software even
>    freer than he ever imagined.
>      -- Paul Hughett, gnu.misc.discuss, 2 Feb 1999 16:22:56 GMT

Who is Paul Hughett?  A search shows me that he is a guy who sends email 
messages to discussion groups, but I am not finding a reason to care about 
his opinion.  Has he ever done something worthwhile?

I am not impressed with his vague, unsupported and condescending claim. 
I searched dejanews and found his original message where he reveals that 
he had recently read the GPL for the first time and arrived at some 
conclusions that are well-known to be incorrect.  He should have read the 
FAQ.  He goes on to say that he is using the BSD license because he 
"prefers a freer license" but I think he is not considering all the types 
of freedom and which ones really matter.

Mike