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Rockbox mail archiveSubject: Re: a dev question about the Sansa ClipRe: a dev question about the Sansa Clip
From: Antony Stone <Antony.Stone_at_rockbox.open.source.it>
Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 10:33:54 +0100 On Sunday 31 May 2009 08:44, Daniel Stenberg wrote: > On Sun, 31 May 2009, Tomer Shalev wrote: > > The *VirtualBox Open Source Edition (OSE)* is free software > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software> released under the > > GNU General Public License > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License> (GPL), > > from which some closed-source features are missing. > > > > This version cannot be closed again, and will remain in the public domain > > forever. > > Let me just nitpick/correct you and mention that Public Domain is not the > same as Free Software or Open Source. The mentioned VirtalBox software is > not public domain but is Free Software. > > Free Software and Open Source are copyrighted software that are explictily > licensed to be open/free. Public domain is software that has no copyright > at all and which according to some aren't even license compatible with lots > of free/open source licenses... Since copyright is automatic upon creation of a piece of work, surely it isn't possible for anything to have "no copyright"? You don't have to register anything to get copyright (like you do with a trademark); you don't need to have any legal agreement to get copyright (like you do with a licence); copyright simply exists as soon as something is created. Therefore I don't think it's possible to avoid copyright existing on a created piece of work. However, copyright is entirely different from the licence under which something may be used / distributed, etc. I agree with you completely that Open Source and Free Software are entirely different from Public Domain software, however I think Tomer's original statement about VirtualBox being out in the public domain (without the capitals) is meaningful. It means something is readily available without having to go to a specific source of supply. And yes, the most important part of all this is that once something is licensed under the GPL, it remains open for ever, including derived works. Regards, Antony -- Never automate fully anything that does not have a manual override capability. Never design anything that cannot work under degraded conditions in emergency. Please reply to the list; please don't CC me.Received on 2009-05-31 Page template was last modified "Tue Sep 7 00:00:02 2021" The Rockbox Crew -- Privacy Policy |