From: gumby@tweedledumb.cygnus.com (D V Henkel-Wallace) Subject: Summary of Linux vs. 386BSD vs. Commercial Unixes Date: 20 Apr 1993 07:50:31
Date: 19 Apr 93 21:19:53 MDT
From: slhpv@cc.usu.edu
I think that GNU/LPF/FSF need to examine the GPL and see if they can
make their tools usable by EVERYONE! Why are we wasting countless
hours having DEC/HP/Novell/Sun/etc write their own architecture specific
compilers, lib's, and windowing wigits. I'm sure many companies would
use GCC, etc. if the GPL wasn't so viral.
They might, and they might not supply their changes. The GPL is about
user-empowerment (if there's a problem, you can fix it yourself, or
get help from a variety of places) and sharing (each GNU developer can
build on the work of others -- no need for reinventing the wheel.
In fact many companies _do_ base their software strategies on GNU
software. Naturally, our customers are among them!
I personally am looking forward to the day that I can write a piece of
code and have it run on every machine I have an account on... with no
changes. Is GNU interested in this kind of thing also?
Of course. Though only part of the problem is addressed by the GNU
project. For instance, if you do't have enough disk space, they won't
help...
This has only a little to do with Linux, sorry. But the GPL is hardly
a _barrier_ to the Linux's development -- it's a technical advantage,
just like any other.