They have not settled on GPL being totally fine? I only see you arguing against it anymore.
*MY* (perhaps I'm the only one, perhaps not) position about GPL is that
IT'S FINE TO USE GPL, if you know what you are doing.
If you are not a professional developer, and don't have full control of all the sources you use (as Delta Glider! How many vessels born from DGs sources? DG is GPLed?),
GPL can backfire you. Please note, I said "can", not "will".
I don't care if I am the only one arguing. I will continue to argue until proven wrong (perhaps we should bring this to someone at FSF or EFF?).
I care about the license. I don't want to see it involuntarily (or voluntarily) disrespected.
Estar's explanation was rather excellent IMHO, and it convinced me that my previous stance was not wrong. Obviously it convinced others, too, which were critics before.
I can change my mind if you, openly, publicly and sending a copy of your statement to someone on FSF, state categorically the the following GPL quote is not neither ever will be a problem, hassle or headache to any Orbirter Add-On.
If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all.
(emphasis are mine)
Until there, I'll stand my ground on
GPL is fine, but can backfire on you if you don't know what you are doing..
I care about GPL, but I care even more about the Orbiter's Ecosystem.
---------- Post added 08-12-15 at 12:34 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-11-15 at 09:10 PM ----------
I Need to correct myself.
Again: all that means that your code cannot be integrated into GPL'd code.
No, man.
IT MEANS THAT MY CODE CAN NOT BE DISTRIBUTED TOGETHER GPL CODE!!!
I was wrong. The sad fact is that
IT MEANS THAT MY CODE CAN NOT BE DISTRIBUTED AT ALL!!! Unless I double license it.
If the GPL terms are not fully fulfilled (without a single exception), the very same GPL states:
If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all
If I'm not entitled to distribute the code, I am in GPL violation by doing that. Any guy that downloads it, do it in (involuntary) violation. If he uses it, he does is in copyright violation (as he has not the right to use the code!). If he further distributes it, he does it in GPL and copyright violation.
The guy will not be sued (neither do I), but we have a nasty chained reaction waiting to happen: *I* got reported, my code is taken down, and then every single guy that used inadvertently my code in his project believing in my GPL licensing claims are now in risk of being reported and getting his code took down too.
I'm sorry, but I don't see how GPL would be "totally fine", or "safe" to be used - unless someone proves that this (or similar) scenario is unreal.
p.s.: I have a few vessel's source code here, and some of them still uses the variable name "dg" on the Dialog's callback handlers !!
Now, I take a look on the Delta Glider and in *EVERY* DG's source code I found:
Code:
// ==============================================================
// ORBITER MODULE: DeltaGlider
// Part of the ORBITER SDK
// Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Martin Schweiger
// All rights reserved
//
I beg your attentions to the phrase "All rights reserved" - it appears to me that... Mr. Schweiger had retained *all his rights* to this code. Perhaps a grant to freely use the code can be found somewhere else - but I think my point is already proven: YOU CANNOT USE GPL SAFELY IN YOUR CODE WITHOUT FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS.
Using GPL in your code IS NOT TOTALLY FINE.
Using GPL in your code IS FINE AS LONG YOU ARE THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OF ALL THE CODE YOU USED OR YOU HAVE PERMISSION FROM EVERY COPYRIGHT HOLDER OF THE CODE YOU DON'T OWN.
If every add-on developer here, believing in Face's statement that "Using GPL is totally fine", adopts the GPL in their personal projects that were started using the Delta Glider sources (how many of them? Can anyone at least estimate?), so God knows how many of our add-ons would be liable of being took down by lack of distribution rights (as the GPL is now
VOID - let me quote again: "
If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all" ).
Worst, every single Orbiter user that download one of these add-ons would be copyright infringers.
Ok, you will not be sued. But you will be an infringer anyway - and if this doesn't bother you, why in hell we need licenses?