[ox-en] Re: Software as society
- From: Rich Walker <rw shadow.org.uk>
- Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 19:33:34 +0000
"Niall Douglas" <s_fsfeurope2 nedprod.com> writes:
On 12 Dec 2003 at 12:19, Casimir Purzelbaum wrote:
Ah, the old "the world is bad let's all do this this better
thing" fantasy. People will do what they think is best for
them.
"Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world, are the ones who do."
--Apple Computer Advertisement (!)
But seriously, why are you saying this was a fantasy thing??
The difference between a vision and a fantasy is practicality. I just
cannot see the GPL or anything like it becoming the de facto software
license. Moreover, I view the GPL as bad for the quality of software
and so the world would be a better place without it.
Umm; the fuzz tests and the BSD network stacks are counter-examples.
Briefly - the fuzz tests were a systematic approach to measure bug
density in standard Unixen toolsets, back when there were many Unix
vendors. Various data, from slightly weird to totally random, was fed to
various tools and the bug density measured. Papers were written. Where
the academic authors had source licenses, they tracked down some of the
actual bugs in the code; they reported all of them. Some years later,
they re-ran the tests on the "modern" versions of the tools, and for
most of the proprietary toolsets, the *same bugs* were still there. For
the open-licensed toolsets, they pretty much weren't (ISTR)
The BSD network stack - everyone took their own copy, as is their
right. So when any fault was found, each vendor fixed it when they
realised in their own way. Many of the faults persisted for years.
Certainly for infrastructure code, GPL is essential.
However, I recognise that it is as popular as it is because the legal
support for software is so lousy so the GPL looks attractive on the
surface. Patching up a leaky tire is one approach - far better is to
replace the tire.
Well, and because some spark of feeling for the fellow-programmer
exists... (Primitive class-consciousness?)
cheers, Rich.
--
rich walker | Shadow Robot Company | rw shadow.org.uk
technical director 251 Liverpool Road |
need a Hand? London N1 1LX | +UK 20 7700 2487
www.shadow.org.uk/products/newhand.shtml
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