[PyQt] LGPL license.

[David Boddie]

On Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:29:53 +0530, Rajeev J Sebastian wrote:

> How about when people (who do not code, and have not coded in their
> entire life) also demand that your work be made "free" (as in "free
> speech") so that they can profit enormously from it ? That also
> strikes me as being cruel.
>
> I realise the legal requirements of making software using GPL'ed
> libraries and you dont have to repeat the various arguments such as
> "feel free not to use GPLed stuff"; I just wanted to "whine" about the
> existence of this "corrollary" which is all too true and exists in
> this world (especially here in India).

I think it helps to separate the people who want Free software (as in
freedom) from the people who want free software (at zero cost). It seems
to me that there are many more people who just want software at zero cost
than there are those who want Free software.

It's just that Free software happens to come without a price tag in most
situations, and for many people, that's a happy coincidence because that's
what they're really looking for. In other words, there's an overlap.

> GPL seems to be going after some kind of theory of "software freedom",
> but at the same time does not protect the creators of software from
> people who "profit" from it in a legally permissible way, but which is
> still financially, emotionally and ethically "wrong".

My impression is that there are a lot of people out there who dislike
the GPL because it places restrictions on what they can do, and many of
these people like the LGPL because there are fewer restrictions. Some
people won't even go near the LGPL. There are various reasons for this,
some of which are clearly stated, and others which are often behind the
scenes.

Even though you weren't comparing the two licenses, it would be interesting
to hear if you think the LGPL is "worse" than the GPL because of this added
permissiveness, or if you think it is better because it gives you more
options.

David