Posted on 08/14/2006 7:13:01 PM PDT by nycoem
Legal Open source project adds "no military use" clause to the GPL Monday August 14, 2006 (04:01 PM GMT) By: Tina Gasperson
Printer-friendly Email story GPU is a Gnutella client that creates ad-hoc supercomputers by allowing individual PCs on the network to share CPU resources with each other. That's intriguing enough, but the really interesting thing about GPU is the license its developers have given it. They call it a "no military use" modified version of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Tiziano Mengotti and Rene Tegel are the lead developers on the GPU project. Mengotti is the driving force behind the license "patch," which says "the program and its derivative work will neither be modified or executed to harm any human being nor through inaction permit any human being to be harmed."
Mengotti says the clause is specifically intended to prevent military use. "We are software developers who dedicate part of our free time to open source development. The fact is that open source is used by the military industry. Open source operating systems can steer warplanes and rockets. [This] patch should make clear to users of the software that this is definitely not allowed by the licenser."
He says some might think an attempt to prevent military use might be "too idealistic" and would not work in practice, but he references the world of ham radio, whose rules specify that the technology is not to be used commercially. "Surprisingly enough, this rule is respected by almost every ham operator."
The developers readily acknowledge that the "patch" contradicts the original intention of the GPL, to provide complete freedom for users of software and source code licensed under it. "This license collides with paragraph six of the Open Source Definition," is how they word it in the license preamble.
Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software movement and author of the GPL, says that while he doesn't support the philosophy of "open source," neither does he believe software developers or distributors have the right to try to control other people's activities through restricting the software they run. "Nonetheless, I don't think the requirement is entirely vacuous, so we cannot disregard it as legally void."
"As a pacifist, I sympathize with their goals," says Russ Nelson, president of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). "People who feel strongly about war will sometimes take actions which they realize are ineffectual, but make it clear that they are not willing to take action which directly supports war."
Tegel says he doesn't fully agree with the inclusion of the clause in GPU's license. "I see the point, and my personal opinion supports it, but I am not sure if it fits in a license," he says. "Like our Dutch military: I can say it is bad because it kills people and costs money. But on the other hand, we were taught by both our leftist and rightist teachers to enjoy our freedom due to the alliance freeing us from Nazis, a thing which I appreciate very much."
Both developers do agree about one aspect of their license clause. It is based on the first of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's Three Law of Robotics, which states, "A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." That, they say, is a good thing, "because the guy was right," Tegel says, "and he showed the paradox that almost any technological development has to solve, whether it is software or an atom bomb. We must discuss now what ethical problems we may raise in the future."
LOLOL
Tell me again: What is drive by insults?
Keep talking Iggle.
You're the one worked up for PBD 720. I honestly don't care.
And by this time next year we will be at the 70% Trusted Workstation level.
Meaning that we will only have 30% of the POS Windows boxes yet to get rid of.
Can't wait.
LOL "trusted wirkstations" aren't Linux either. Poor Mike, likes to push his foreign open source on everyone but no one's listening.
You're the foreign Linux pumper. not me. I'm perfectly fine with Unix or Windows, as is most everyone else in the AF thankfully.
I haven't installed/run slackware since 99 or so, ever since Redhat first came out. Anyone who bitches about rpm's now has NO idea how easy they have it!!
I was so happy when I got my 15 inch monitor running at 1024x768 in X and I got ppp up and running because that meant I could play netrek at home (albeit over a modem)!
As they say, ignorance is bliss. But I have the benefit of having seen General Peterson's briefing at AFITC, and know what they're planning for chumps like you.
It's open source, but not for bad people.
This is why we keep our engineers in their own building where they won't scare anybody.
It's like the Island of Dr. Moreau over there.
Whatever Mikie. Go back to your cave where you can hide your Linux for a little while longer, while the real Air Force executes the mission.
And unlike yourself, I actually work with REAL airmen, not just calling Micro$$$$oft to fix your crappy email migration and regionalization plan that is going tits up.
If you remember, this started when you accused someone else of suggesting getting updates from hacker sites, when the target of your ire was that FReeper's own site with a Flash animation demonstrating how to get legitimate updates.
You went off on how hackers can't be trusted, using the current warped popular noobie definition of the word, not knowing what a hacker really is.
It was in that context that I mentioned a very popular and trusted tool that happened to come from a hacker.
Oh, and it was fun leading you on thinking he was Russian (someone who knew would have caught it). He just took the Russian author's name as a handle.
It's funny that you say it's the obvious hatred of them, when I've never stated as such.
LOL
But your reading comprehension skills are known to be absolutely horrible in the first place..........
Still at work Iggle?
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