| The "No problem Bugroff" license. |
| |
| Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation devised, in addition |
| to some marvelous software, the GNU General Public License (GPL for |
| short). Or the CopyLeft it is sometimes called. |
| |
| It is quite a revolutionary document, using the "copyright" tool to to |
| protect your right to use free software. |
| |
| Unfortunately using copyright to protect free software is a lot like |
| using a Jackal to guard the hens. |
| |
| In fact, various inconveniences relating to this have resulted in |
| modifications such as the LGPL (Library General Public License) and |
| more recently the NPL (Netscape Public License) |
| |
| I call these matters mere inconveniences, the real damage will occur |
| when the Jackal's, (sorry, I mean lawyers), actually get to test the |
| GPL in court for the first time. |
| |
| Thus enter my version. |
| |
| Its very simple. |
| |
| Entirely consistent. |
| |
| Completely unrestrictive. |
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| Easy to apply. |
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| The "No problem Bugroff" license is as follows... |
| |
| The answer to any and every question relating to the copyright, |
| patents, legal issues of Bugroff licensed software is.... |
| |
| Sure, No problem. Don't worry, be happy. Now bugger off. |
| |
| All portions of this license are important.. |
| |
| * "Sure, no problem." Gives you complete freedom. I mean it. Utterly |
| complete. A bit of a joke really. You have complete freedom anyway. |
| * "Don't worry, be happy." Apart from being good advice and a good |
| song, it also says :- No matter what anyone else says or does, you |
| still have complete freedom. |
| * Now bugger off. The only way to get rid of pushy Jackals is to |
| ignore them and not feed them. The GPL is just begging somebody to |
| take it to court. Can't you just see it. Exactly the same thing |
| that happened when some twit (not Linus) registered Linux as his |
| own personal trademark. People got upset, started a fund, and |
| hired, off all ruddy things, a Jackal to try and defend the |
| chicken! Who really benefits from this trademark / patent / |
| copyright thing anyway? The lawyers. Who made it up in the first |
| place? The lawyers. |
| |
| OK so the last part of the license sounds a bit harsh, but seriously |
| folks, if you are a :- |
| |
| * Lawyer asking these legalese questions... You should go off and |
| learn an honest trade that will actually contribute to life instead |
| of draining it. |
| * Programmer asking these legalese questions... You have amazingly |
| powerful tools in your hands and mind, use them to ask and answer |
| the worthwhile questions of life, the universe and everything. Stop |
| mucking about with such legal nonsense and get back to programming. |
| * User/reader asking these question... Don't worry. Go off and be |
| happy. Have fun. Enjoy what has been created for you. |