RMS (again)

[Derek Neighbors]

> Are they? If you use RMS' definition: "When we speak of free software, we 
> are referring to freedom, not price..." then they are not free software.

Yes, as stated FREE SOFTWARE does not mean GPL Compatiable, it does not 
mean GNU it does not mean GPL it means it adheres to all necessary 
'freedoms'.  Outlined here. (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, 
study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four 
kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

    * The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
    * The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your 
needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
    * The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor 
(freedom 2).
* The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the 
public, so that the whole community benefits. (freedom 3). Access to the 
source code is a precondition for this. 

All below comes from (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html) which 
lists all the FREE SOFTWARE licenses...

XFree86
---------
The X11 license.
This **is** a simple, permissive non-copyleft **free software** license, 
compatible with the GNU GPL. XFree86 uses the same license.


Mozilla (Mozilla is actually available under the GPL)
---------
However the MPL is FREE SOFTWARE too..
The Mozilla Public License (MPL).
    This **is a free software** license which is not a strong copyleft; 
unlike 
the X11 license, it has some complex restrictions that make it 
incompatible with the GNU GPL. That is, a module covered by the GPL and a 
module covered by the MPL cannot legally be linked together. We urge you 
not to use the MPL for this reason.

However, MPL 1.1 has a provision (section 13) that allows a program (or 
parts of it) to offer a choice of another license as well. If part of a 
program allows the GNU GPL as an alternate choice, or any other 
GPL-compatible license as an alternate choice, that part of the program 
has a GPL-compatible license. 

Free Software License (GPL Compatiable)
The GNU General Public License, or GNU GPL for short.
The GNU Lesser General Public License, or GNU LGPL for short.
The license of Guile.
The license of the run-time units of the GNU Ada compiler.
The X11 license.
Expat license.
Standard ML of New Jersey Copyright License.
Public Domain.
The Cryptix General License.
The modified BSD license.
The license of ZLib.
The license of the iMatix Standard Function Library.
The W3C Software Notice and License.
The Berkeley Database License (aka the Sleepycat Software Product 
License).
 The OpenLDAP License, Version 2.7.
The License of Python 1.6a2 and earlier versions.
The License of Python 2.0.1, 2.1.1, and newer versions.
The license of Perl.
The Clarified Artistic License.
The Artistic License, 2.0.
The Zope Public License version 2.0.
The Intel Open Source License (as published by OSI) 
The license of Netscape Javascript.



Free Software License (Not GPL Compatiable)
The Arphic Public License.
The original BSD license.
The Apache License, Version 1.0.
The Apache License, Version 1.1.
The Zope Public License version 1.
The license of xinetd 
The License of Python 1.6b1 and later versions, through 2.0 and 2.1.
The old OpenLDAP License, Version 2.3.
The license of Vim, Version 5.7
IBM Public License, Version 1.0
Common Public License Version 0.5
The Phorum License, Version 1.2
The LaTeX Project Public License.
The Mozilla Public License (MPL).
The Netizen Open Source License (NOSL), Version 1.0.
The Interbase Public License, Version 1.0.
The Sun Public License.
The Nokia Open Source License.
The Netscape Public License (NPL) 
The Jabber Open Source License, Version 1.0  
The Sun Industry Standards Source License 1.0 
The Q Public License (QPL), Version 1.0.
The FreeType license
The PHP License, Version 2.02.


Now again, can you tell me the software PLUG is promoting that does not 
fall under one of these licenses?

-Derek