Bill Gates criticises GPL

[darrelljon]

Bill Gates criticised the GPL in a speech a couple of days ago (http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/04/23/bill-gates-the-gpl-which-we-disagree-with).Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever improve the software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and business. He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That may seem radical."

[dr.koljan]

Bill Gates criticised the GPL in a speech a couple of days ago (http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/04/23/bill-gates-the-gpl-which-we-disagree-with).

He is making no sense.

[insane_alien]

1/ the GPL allows modification(improvement) by anybody, you just have to acknowledge previous developers and also liscence under the gpl(or something to that effect).

2/ yes, software developers and drug developers can charge for their product but they can also choose to make it available for free if they so desire.

[Jon Monreal]

And Steve Ballmer called the GPL "a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches." Yet Microsoft still does support Open Source in some ways, making the situation incredibly confusing.

I think that Red Hat is reasonable proof that Linux is commercially viable.

[karellen]

Now that does seem rather strange.

I understand the GPL even allows me to charge for software released under the GPL if I can find a buyer silly enough.

:lolflag: yes, indeed, good point :)

[smoker]

Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever improve the software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and business. He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That may seem radical."

this coming from a man who squandered the resources and talents of his company's R & D dept for years bringing out ME2

plus, most drugs have a time-limited patent, is he inferring he will be scrapping the patents on windows after a while? maybe if the source was open, thousands of devs all over the world would spend time improving it!

[izanbardprince]

this coming from a man who squandered the resources and talents of his company's R & D dept for years bringing out ME2

plus, most drugs have a time-limited patent, is he inferring he will be scrapping the patents on windows after a while? maybe if the source was open, thousands of devs all over the world would spend time improving it!


The two problems with your logic.

1. Vista is not Me part two, it's not as good as was promised originally, but overall I've found it to be quite stable, it certainly has better out of the box support for almost any major hardware you can throw at it, it's more stable and secure than XP, and it's handling of SMP (dual or dual core processor configs) is much, much more efficient), also the 3d accelerated desktop is much nicer, as it takes the load off your CPU, taking all the workload for that off the CPU, and yes, it shuts off while you're playing a game, so using it makes no difference in your frame rates, Compiz in Ubuntu just slows everything down without any reward.

2. Microsoft does the same thing with Windows as the drug companies do, they release new versions and keep the patents running, if anyone wants to build a grounds up re-implementation, like Wine, Cedega, or ReactOS, they're free to do so.

[smoker]

1. Vista is not Me part two,

imo, it is, though i didn't come up with the name!
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/04/21/microsoft-admits-vista-failure

regarding the drugs analogy - you can buy many 'supermarket own brand' drugs that are exactly the same chemical composition as the original manufacturers. after a period of time the patent runs out and this is legal. mr gates uses the drug argument, but i don't think i will ever see the day when 'own brand windows' will be allowed to be sold (or even given away!).:lolflag:

[Midwest-Linux]

most drugs have a time-limited patent, is he inferring he will be scrapping the patents on windows after a while?

There is a term in the computer realm called "abandonware", which means it is no longer sold or promoted or advertised and there is no new support for it. Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0, Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and ME are good examples. MSFT didn't release it to open source or drop its patent or rights. I guess OS 9 would be Apple's example of abandonware.

[Dr. C]

There is a term in the computer realm called "abandonware", which means it is no longer sold or promoted or advertised and there is no new support for it. Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0, Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and ME are good examples. MSFT didn't release it to open source or drop its patent or rights. I guess OS 9 would be Apple's example of abandonware.

Yes one of the absurdities of copyright law in the United states and many other countries is that the copyright of Windows 286/386 (Version 2 of Windows designed for either the 286 or the 386 processors) is protected until approximately 70 years after the death of Bill Gates.

[Jiraya]

He is making no sense.

Totally agree!

Ubuntu (http://www.linux-archive.org/ubuntu/)

[andrewjoy]

How can a well educated man like gates make such a arsefart statement like that.

[heartburnkid]

How can a well educated man like gates make such a arsefart statement like that.

Simple; he knows it's false, but he says it anyway. It's called FUD.

[Kernel Sanders]

Simple; he knows it's false, but he says it anyway. It's called FUD.

Exactly! It still amazes me, the sheer number of people who think that Bill Gates and their ilk totally misunderstand the GPL.

They know EXACTLY what it is, but they need to spread FUD so that the majority of people can continue not caring.

You don't build the largest software company the world has ever seen, becoming the worlds richest man in the process by being a bit dumb, and failing to understand simple concepts like this.

[Fenris_rising]

perhaps he sees the writing on the wall (all be it far off). long live linux..........bill, bill who? :lolflag:

Fenris

[morjava]

i see where this is going....
i think i prefer drugs to windows too

[damis648]

bill gates it just jealous.... :)

[garyedwardjohnston]

He is just trying to scare people out of trying open source and sticking with Microsoft.

NOTE: When people in authority talk like this it's usually because they are being threatened by it. GOOD NEWS FOR US!!!