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The "No problem Bugroff" license.
Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation devised, in addition
to some marvelous software, the GNU General Public License (GPL for
short). Or the CopyLeft it is sometimes called.
It is quite a revolutionary document, using the "copyright" tool to to
protect your right to use free software.
Unfortunately using copyright to protect free software is a lot like
using a Jackal to guard the hens.
In fact, various inconveniences relating to this have resulted in
modifications such as the LGPL (Library General Public License) and
more recently the NPL (Netscape Public License)
I call these matters mere inconveniences, the real damage will occur
when the Jackal's, (sorry, I mean lawyers), actually get to test the
GPL in court for the first time.
Thus enter my version.
Its very simple.
Entirely consistent.
Completely unrestrictive.
Easy to apply.
The "No problem Bugroff" license is as follows...
The answer to any and every question relating to the copyright,
patents, legal issues of Bugroff licensed software is....
Sure, No problem. Don't worry, be happy. Now bugger off.
All portions of this license are important..
"Sure, no problem." Gives you complete freedom. I mean it. Utterly
complete. A bit of a joke really. You have complete freedom anyway.
"Don't worry, be happy." Apart from being good advice and a good song,
it also says :- No matter what anyone else says or does, you still
have complete freedom. Now bugger off. The only way to get rid of
pushy Jackals is to ignore them and not feed them. The GPL is just
begging somebody to take it to court. Can't you just see it. Exactly
the same thing that happened when some twit (not Linus) registered
Linux as his own personal trademark. People got upset, started a fund,
and hired, off all ruddy things, a Jackal to try and defend the
chicken! Who really benefits from this trademark / patent / copyright
thing anyway? The lawyers. Who made it up in the first place? The
lawyers. OK so the last part of the license sounds a bit harsh, but
seriously folks, if you are a :-
Lawyer asking these legalese questions... You should go off and learn
an honest trade that will actually contribute to life instead of
draining it. Programmer asking these legalese questions... You have
amazingly powerful tools in your hands and mind, use them to ask and
answer the worthwhile questions of life, the universe and
everything. Stop mucking about with such legal nonsense and get back
to programming. User/reader asking these question... Don't worry. Go
off and be happy. Have fun. Enjoy what has been created for you.
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