Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] License free Linux ??
From: Dave Phillips (dlphilp_AT_bright.net)
Date: Fri Dec 05 2003 - 03:36:46 EET
Greetings to all:
Very interesting discussion. I think the legal aspects are well
understood here, basically boiling down to :
1. If he abides by the GPL we can't really cry "Foul!"
2. If he's slagging the GPL he should be taken to task for it.
But to me there's also the not-so-underlying issue of his community
involvement. If he's really giving something back then that should be
simple to determine, we just ask Dominic Mazzoni about it. Now, if it
happens that the guy is just taking the work of the Audacity developers
without making any reciprocal contribution, frankly I think the
community should get pro-active and do whatever's possible to bring him
to his senses (I'm back to torches and pitchforks again). I didn't mean
to imply that we should notify eBay, particularly since it's now unclear
what he's doing or not doing, but I had hoped there might be a space for
comments. I'd like to have added some comments of my own, as would some
others on this list, I'm sure. It may be possible that potential
customers would read those comments and decide, "Geez, this guy's
ripping off work and selling it without the creator's blessings. That
kinda sucks. And hey, this other guy says I can get it for free anyway,
so why should I pay this Luminousity perp ?". Well, I hope people might
respond that way...
So does Luminousity add any value to the packages he's selling ?
Best regards,
== dp
Jan Depner wrote:
>Dave,
>
> This is a bit shady but, as long as the guy is giving out the source
>code with attached GPL/LGPL licensing verbiage, it's legal. If he's not
>giving out source code he is in violation of the license/copyright. I'm
>sure that EBay, if notified, will take him off if he's violating
>copyright. They don't want to be anywhere near a copyright infringement
>case.
>
>Jan
>
>
>On Thu, 2003-12-04 at 16:08, Dave Phillips wrote:
>
>
>>Brian Redfern wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>I don't know, if you're selling people audacity on cdrom, as long as you
>>>include the source I wouldn't think its illegal, I don't know why anyone
>>>would buy it on cd, but notice that he didn't get any bids, and now that
>>>its relisted, there's still no bids.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>I checked this out too, and it is disturbing. It's also, as Patrick
>>suggested, an example of a likely scenario in the near future as Linux
>>audio apps become increasingly sophiticated and usable under more
>>professional conditions. It's true that there's little that can be done
>>to avoid this scenario, but I believe that community opprobrium (i.e.
>>verbal torches and pitchforks) can do some good in such a case. Alas,
>>eBay doesn't make it easy for a non-member to add a comment to a sale item.
>>
>>I'm thinking some not very nice thoughts about Luminousity right now...
>>
>>Best,
>>
>>== dp
>>
>>
>>
>>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri Dec 05 2003 - 03:27:42 EET