From 3deedb9af799e94b2a7ebf1c0b38a81e25d75baf 2015-08-01 08:18:06 From: datagrok Date: 2015-08-01 08:18:06 Subject: [PATCH] Nevermind; I'll self-publish this stuff first before cluttering this wiki. --- diff --git a/users/datagrok.mdwn b/users/datagrok.mdwn index 85eea6c5e444111c95e69f2911fa6632531f0682..0978c5309017d6ceb1c232d9af8dbc0c261a1790 100644 --- a/users/datagrok.mdwn +++ b/users/datagrok.mdwn @@ -1,12 +1,3 @@ **datagrok** is Michael F. Lamb. I'm a fan of copyleft and the Free Software Foundation. My personal homepage is [datagrok.org][datagrok.org]. -Items I would like to see in this wiki or The Guide (and intend to help contribute, if deemed useful): - -- **AGPL Is Business-Friendly.** An unfortunately popular misconception in many "open source"-tolerant businesses that "permissive is better and viral is dangerous." I intend to demonstrate using specific examples that contrary to popular belief, in *many* situations, copyleft licenses like AGPL and GPL are *better* for business than permissive or proprietary licenses, even when one ignores its ethical advantages. -- **Free Software Licenses, By Example.** A collection of specific hypothetical situations, and which license is best to achieve one's goals in those situations. -- **The differences between the AGPLv3 and the GPLv3.** The AGPLv3 and the GPLv3 are both fairly dense legal documents. But the AGPLv3 is almost entirely a verbatim copy of the GPLv3, so it is easy to understand the AGPLv3 as the GPLv3, plus a small patch. Provide a visual `diff` that highlights the areas where they differ, and explain why. -- **Permissive is the New Proprietary.** The philosophy section on gnu.org is quite charitable toward permissive licenses, including many permissive licenses under the definition of Free Software. However, with the advent of software as a service, or services as a software substitute, and the rise of the Open Source movement, permissive licenses allow startups to build on Free Software without contributing back. It's no surprise that a large amount of vitriolic attacks against copyleft may be encountered on startup-focused discussion boards. Expand the situation and respond to the most frequently encountered FUD. -- **Copyleft is better than Permissive for Social Justice.** Ashe Dryden describes in [The Ethics of Unpaid Labor and the OSS Community][dryden-ethics] (2013) how employers measuring prospective employees by their participation in open source can be an unfair to many, especially marginalized people in tech. While it does not completely solve the problems, a copyleft license would prevent at least some of the abuses she mentions, that a permissive license (and the culture of businesses not sharing-alike) allows. - [datagrok.org]: http://datagrok.org -[dryden-ethics]: http://www.ashedryden.com/blog/the-ethics-of-unpaid-labor-and-the-oss-community