[TIP] does licensing of test tools matter?

[Ben Finney]

Michael Foord <fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk> writes:

> Here comes the flamewar. In many situations the GPL strongly
> *restricts* the freedom of recipients.

Yes, many freedoms necessarily conflict. My freedom to swing my fist is
restricted, in most societies, by your freedom from fists hitting you.
Hence we need to *choose* between conflicting freedoms, and preserve
some by restricting others.

The choice made by people who apply the GNU GPL to a work is to preserve
the freedom of all recipients in the work to execute, copy, modify, and
redistribute. That preservation of freedom necessarily involves
restricting the ability to further restrict the freedoms of others in
the work or its derivatives.

I think it's the right balance, and I would support a move toward strong
protection of recipients's freedoms in this way.

-- 
 \       “Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?” “Well, I think |
  `\              so, Brain, but pantyhose are so uncomfortable in the |
_o__)                              summertime.” —_Pinky and The Brain_ |
Ben Finney