Re: [OS:N:] OS does not reject copyright WAS Open Source as a formof Anarcho-Communism?

[Brent Fox <bfox redhat com>]

On Wed, 2003-03-19 at 13:08, Jens Hardings wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Brent Fox wrote:
> 
> |> If all OS/Free software were to reject copyright, it would result
> |> in a BSD style movement.  There would be no GPL.
> |
> |
> | Indeed.  This is a very important point.  Copyright law is the
> | foundation upon which the GPL is built.
> |
> | And where does copyright law come from?  Or any other laws for that
> | matter?  From governments.  Therefore, I think the premise that the
> | Open Source is in any way anarchistic is flawed.
> 
> You are supposing that all Open Source software is released under the
> GPL or copylefted. And that is not the case.

Yes, not all Open Source software is GPL.  However, I think it's fair to
say that almost all Open Source software is under some kind of license
(GPL, BSD, or otherwise).  I would venture to say that there is very
little completely unlicensed code in widespread use.  

Any software which carries a license is dependent on the concept of
contract law.  What I'm saying is that there can be no licenses without
law.  Without governments to provide that law, licenses cannot be
enforceable in a court of law because there is no law.  Therefore I
don't think that the Open Source movement can be characterized as
anarchist or anarcho-communist. 


Cheers,
   Brent


> | To me, Open Source represents the application of the Scientific
> | Method to software.  The programmers are computer scientists that
> | share the results of their work with the rest of the world.  This
> | allows other programmers to build on the work that has already been
> | done.  In the early days of computing, this type of collaborative
> | effort was common. It wasn't until many years later that people
> | started keeping the source to themselves, which created the software
> | industry as we know it today. The entire GNU project was based on the
> |  desire to return to that sense of cooperation.
> | http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html
> 
> And the fact is that in both, scientific method and open source software
> there is no central unit that somehow guides where the movement should
> go. Everybody acts on their own and the global movement is a result of
> all the independent interactions. It would be difficult to predict or
> even force the direction the movement would take.
> 
> - --
> Jens.
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
> 
> iD8DBQE+eLIGu9OzKF2Kg7QRAjF3AJ9FF7frKqTiRcLQyA753GyamnfiRwCgtTnv
> 17XxGrlUb/JWl4MOk4nPQXw=
> =laEP
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Subscription and Archive: https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/open-source-now-list/
> -
> For K12OS technical help join K12OSN:
> <https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12osn>