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On Sat, 24 Jan 1998, Alec Cawley wrote: > Sorry, not very good context. Someone complained that using GNU software > required them to publish all their source code, include the parts > driving their proprietary hardware, thus revealing at least part of the > hardware design. My point is that, insofaras this is true, it is > entirely in accord with FSF aims. Whilst not central to the main thrust > of FSF, it is a strong argument (were any needed) against the GNU > license being relaxed in any way for embedded software. This is a valid argument. But as RMS stated early on (parahrasing probably badly), if there are viable commercial alternative (as is the case for gcc) and the license prevents the wide-spread use of the free software, then nothing is advanced. Forcing release of information is unpalatable to many embedded systems developers. Those people will simply not choose to use free software. This in turn eliminates any chance of submissions from those people. >From a personal standpoint, I want RTEMS to be free software but I also want people to use it. So the liense can't scare users off. Even the non-restrictive "libgcc" style license has cost us untold hours of discussions with potential users convincing them that it has no strings. <sigh> --joel Joel Sherrill Director of Research & Development joel@OARcorp.com On-Line Applications Research Ask me about RTEMS: a free RTOS Huntsville AL 35805 Support Available (205) 722-9985