Whurley: The GPL Alienates Developers

Are the political wranglings and brash anti-commercialism of the Free Software Foundation helping to dig the GPL’s grave? Long-time free software advocate William Hurley, better known as “whurley,” argues to the affirmative in a blog post titled “The Death Of A Software License.” In his post, whurley quotes Apache Software Foundation chair and Google engineering […]

Hurley
Are the political wranglings and brash anti-commercialism of the Free Software Foundation helping to dig the GPL's grave? Long-time free software advocate William Hurley, better known as "whurley," argues to the affirmative in a blog post titled "The Death Of A Software License."

In his post, whurley quotes Apache Software Foundation chair and Google engineering manager Greg Stein as saying that today's developers really like permissive licenses. In fact, that's what they demand, and that's exactly the opposite direction the GPL is moving in.

Whurley defends Stein's viewpoint:

The FSF should realize by now their influence is waning. Look at the plethora of alternative licenses. Now they???re really hamstringing themselves with Version 3, taking the license further and further from where industry developers are heading... Do (developers) care when Eben Moglen says "the time is rapidly approaching when the GPL is capable of leveling the monopolist to the ground?" Developers demand more freedom, not less. They want clear, practical leadership, not bombast.

See also: Are the GPL's Critics Happy Yet?
And cast your vote: GPL: Love It or Lump It