OFF_TOPIC: Copyrights (was Re: Serialization)

Fri Jul 2 10:40:00 GMT 1999

Jules Bean writes:
> What is the point of free software, with all its promises of
> code-sharing and code-reuse, if the stance of (Cygnus? The FSF?) is
> that they need to own the copyright on all the code?

Owning the copyright allows you to decide which license the software
will be put under. When the copyright is in trusted hands (like the
FSF, because what it stands for, or Cygnus, which proved itself over
the years to be a trustable entity for that matter) it ensures that
the first hurdles for reuse (clean provenance and a license that
ensures a carefully worded freedom to involved parties -- the
author(s) and the user(s)) are passed gracefully.
./A