google open phone platform

Attila Csipa plists at prometheus.org.yu
Tue Nov 6 15:28:30 CET 2007


On Tuesday 06 November 2007 13:42:24 you wrote:
> the problem is - if we DIDNT have full freedom (i disagree - license like
> GPL forcing you to GPL your app because it uses a public published API are
> not free. they are just someone else's idea of freedom. mine is that i can
> license my app freely as i please and make decisions on GPL vs BSD or
> whatever as fits me), then ALL these users would go for something like OHA.
> you alienated a set of users and developers by being so hard-line. :(

OK, I don't want to turn this into a licensing debate (again), but as I see it 
it boils down that OpenMoko gives you freedom, it's just that we have (or at 
least I fail to see) no real consensus on what that freedom means (every man 
chooses for himself). I'm no GPL zealot, I can understand both people who 
agree with it, and those who think it might alienate some users (that was the 
argument against GPL Qtopia some time ago). Base OpenMoko is, as far as I can 
see, GPL. The toolkit, LGPL. From what you say, it somehow turns out Android 
is even more free than OpenMoko as it poses less restrictions on developers 
(no, I don't agree with that - yet - either, but it does sound that way). 
It's just OpenMoko who needs to make up it's collective mind about what sort 
of freedom it wants to provide to it's users AND developers. It is a fine 
balance of letting someone doing whatever he pleases, and at the same time 
not having to worry about his (non)contributions to the community, whether it 
be code or other support. So do we have something more substantial than a gut 
feeling that GPL (QTopia) is too restrictive, BSD (Android) is too 
uncontrollable and that OpenMoko is just the right amount/mix of freedom and 
control, do we just WANT OpenMoko to be the real free thing we were/are 
waiting for, no matter what the actual background is ? 

PS. This is a rethorical question, I won't reply with regard to licensing 
here. You don't have convince ME (if that was the alienating 'you' you were 
referring to), just consider it in your OWN comprehension of Free software 
(whatever the project or licence).





More information about the community mailing list