GPL Infectiousness

[Robert Bushman]

On Mon, 30 Sep 2002, der.hans wrote:

> > "Proprietary software developers have the advantage of money; free
> > software developers need to make advantages for each other. Using the
> > ordinary GPL for a library gives free software developers an advantage
> > over proprietary developers: a library that they can use, while
> > proprietary developers cannot use it.
>
> It doesn't give us an advantage. They can use it as well, but under the
> terms of the GPL. I can buy code from Rational Software to use in my
> products, but I can only use it under the licensing terms of the purchase.
> There's nothing in the GPL preventing anyone from using GPLd code. In fact,
> it's explicitly available to anyone.

I'm missing something - according to RMS in the quote
above, the point of using the GPL on libraries is to
give an advantage to free software developers over
proprietary software developers. Yet I know you are
more familiar with this topic than I, so where am I
going off track?

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"We're on the threshold of a whole new system. The time where
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