[sldev] Upcoming viewer releases?

Dzonatas dzonatas at dzonux.net
Thu Aug 30 08:34:38 PDT 2007


Dale Glass wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 09:44:24AM -0700, Dzonatas wrote:
>   
>> There absolutely no need for LL to have you sign a contribution in order 
>> for LL to produce a Open Source version of the viewer. There is only a 
>> need to sign the contribution if LL wishes to use your contribution 
>> under conditions they can re-license the code completely. At this point, 
>> there is no effort by LL to produce a version of the viewer with 
>> contributions that are meant only for the Open Source viewer.
>>     
> Right, but why should they? I could take some code I released, slap the
> GPL2 on it, and not accept any patches. Or I could accept patches on the
> condition you fly here and stand on your head. None of that would make
> the original release less Open Source.
>   

It would be Open Source if we all had access to the process to produce 
those releases. The process, instead, is kept internal, which is not 
open to outsiders, until there is a source drop and the label slapped on 
it called Open Source.

That is not how Open Source works. That is how free software works.

Netscape's motive to produce the openness of Mozilla is a good example. 
Netscape moved its production from being internal to being open. The 
difference here is that Netscape now produces browsers based off of 
Mozilla. Netscape's browser are still internal, but the entire basis of 
it is open by the design of Mozilla.

For LL, it is backwards, they want to produce something as internal 
first and then release that as Open Source. Just because the source code 
is free doesn't mean it is Open Source. There needs to be the whole 
process of open design and collaboration in order to produce releases.

As you see in Netscape, it does not control what does and does not get 
into the Mozilla development. Nobody need to sign an agreement with 
Netscape in order to produce code for Mozilla.


> I have one, Nicholaz Beresford has another. 
Hmm, that kinda avoided the point.

What do you think Open Source means?

-- 
Power to Change the Void
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