rms@canna.kr.UUCP (04/01/87)
It is true that the funding from the president of Ann Arbor Terminals constitutes a sort of public trust. Most software developed nowadays with public funds is proprietary (you must know of dozens of proprietary programs developed by tax-exempt universities), but I consider that to be stealing from the treasury. The GNU copyleft does a better job of defending the freeness of a program than public domain status does. The public domain was designed for literature and does not work for software. I think I am upholding the public trust well, distributing GNU CC as I am. The public trust aside, we don't have any private obligations in this matter. As far as Len Tower and I can recall, the president of Ann Arbor Terminals never made public domain distribution a condition of the funding. This shows that we are behaving as good citizens and honest ones. A completely unrelated question that you might want to ask is whether we are obeying the law. I believe we are. In the absence of any agreement signed by Len Tower, he is not legally restricted. But even if the portion of the compiler he originally wrote had been officially a project of the foundation of the president of Ann Arbor Terminals, and had been placed in the public domain, the law would permit us to include it in a copylefted work, just as it would permit AT&T to include it in a copyrighted proprietary product. And this illustrates my first point: that a copyleft upholds the public trust better than the public domain does.
wegrzyn@cdx39.UUCP (04/01/87)
Sorry, but in my conversations with the President of Ann Arbor Terminals he made it a point of stating that whatever was done with the money had to be placed in the public domain. Now, is the GNU copyright better than placing something in the public domain? Well that is arguable, but more importantly they are very different. Public domain means that the program can be sold, etc - no one owns it, while the GNU copyright restricts the use. Perhaps the President of Ann Arbor Terminals would make a statement for the record? I would call him but I have forgotten his telephone number. Chuck Wegrzyn, not an employee of Codex, just a user.
rbj@ICST-CMR.ARPA.UUCP (04/03/87)
? Now, is the GNU copyright better than placing something in the ? public domain? Well that is arguable, but more importantly they are ? very different. Public domain means that the program can be sold, etc - ? no one owns it, while the GNU copyright restricts the use. So if anyone can do anything with it, one can slap the GNU copyright on it. That doesn't mean they *own* it, but the value is that people *think* thay do. In addition to the real value of the teeth in the copyright law, a good amount of its effectiveness comes from the morality of people who dislike breaking the law even when there is almost no chance that they will suffer for it. Please don't get me wrong, I dig the GNU Manifesto. ? Perhaps the President of Ann Arbor Terminals would make a ? statement for the record? I would call him but I have forgotten his ? telephone number. ? ? Chuck Wegrzyn, ? ? not an employee of Codex, just a user. (Root Boy) Jim "Just Say Yes" Cottrell <rbj@icst-cmr.arpa> Were these parsnips CORRECTLY MARINATED in TACO SAUCE?
mcg@omepd.UUCP (04/19/87)
For what it's worth, the oft-named "president of Ann Arbor Terminals" is Ed Zimmer, and his number is 313-663-8000. I was an employee of Ann Arbor Terminals at the time that Ed donated the money to the FSF, and I counseled him that I thought it a good idea, though I know none of the details of the transaction. I doubt, however, that Ed is seriously interested in the subtle difference between "Public Domain" and the GNU Copyright. Feel free to write him and ask. Ann Arbor's address is 6175 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Ed can also be reached via UUCP mail vi umich!aat!zimmer. S. McGeady Intel Corp.