[Search-l] Licensing thoughts... (fwd)

[nigel at turbo10.com]

> 
> Do we really want to follow GPL, Stallman and the FSF?  Shouldn't we invent
> something new...here's an idea: how about a WPL:
> Wikipedia Public License-- made by and for the people, that can evolve at
> any time, as the people edit and renew it and revitalize it.


Hear. Hear.

I saw Stallman speak at the London School of Economics at an invited lecture on 
"Copyright Against Community".

After an hour of rage against the machine rhetoric I asked him about the 
thousands of projects and communities that have formed around GPL-licensed 
projects?

When I put it to him that the GPL is a great example of copyright working in 
the interests of community NOT against it - he seemed to combust on stage and 
he launched into me. How could I suggest such a thing!!?

The truth is the GPL works thanks to the flexibility of copyright not in spite 
of it.

Logic and rationality seemed to go out the window and we were left with his 
bald political agenda. It was at this point I walked out.

What the GPL does show is that strong community cohesion can come about when 
the ground rules are established around a strong legal basis (e.g., copyright 
law).

I really like the idea of a community-spirited licence without the political 
baggage and all the undertones that go with it.

The WPL sounds like a chance to take a fresh look.


Nigel