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FreeBSD Just Removed The Last Of Its GPL-Licensed Code (hackaday.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 17 points 2 months ago (5 children)

So your argument is that because there are some exceptions to a rule, the opposite of that rule is true.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Basically his argument is that because some companies choose to contribute back to BSD projects even though they aren't required to, and because some GPL projects choose not to merge some changes from downstream forks, the GPL and BSD licenses are effectively the same. I think the flaw in this logic should be pretty apparent. I think the GPLv2 vs. GPLv3 debate is a lot more interesting, particularly since Linus has come out against GPLv3.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Another way to phrase that is that companies can choose to meaningulfully contribute back, or not, with either project, and there are plenty of examples of each combination.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    No, you have failed to understand how either license works. Companies are forced to contribute back in the case of the GPL and the project can choose to accept that or not. In the case of the BSD license companies can choose whether to contribute back and if they do, then the project has the option to accept it or not. The GPL makes it always the choice of the project, while the BSD makes it always the choice of the company.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    You have failed to understand the difference between idealism and practice. There are more companies that use Linux without ever contributing back than those that do. Those that do do so because it makes practical business sense to improve the upstream project they rely on. Any company that has decided they don't want to share some code just builds it in a binary module, firmware, or application to sit on top.

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