[Foundation-l] Diversity and NC images - Board meet

[luke brandt]

Lars Aronsson wrote:
> luke brandt wrote:
> 
>> err... to say that "Wikipedia is the Free encyclopedia" begs the 
>> question "What do we mean by 'free'?" The GFDL is not the most 
>> 'free' license, many say. And many also say it isn't the most 
>> suitable license for a wiki either.
> 
> It is quite embarrassing to think that you would be uneducated 
> about these definitions and the history of Wikipedia.  Surely this 
> is covered in the FAQs.
> 
> You can wish for any license you want, and then all you need is to 
> invent a time machine to go back to 2001 and implement your ideas.
> 
> If you are talking about a completely new project, not Wikipedia, 
> then you can pick any license you want.

Hi Lars,
In theory your point seems to have merit, but I wonder what would happen
in practice if we were to change the license, assuming a new license has
the same 'freedom' objective but is better suited to our purpose. Assume
a contributor were to take legal action against us....presumably they
would have been harmed in some way...how exactly? It reminds me of the
case of a gentleman who was 'hurt' when the 'cut' of his suit was
criticised :)


But you didn't address the issue of freedom in the abstract case yet.

> 
> Here is one rationale for the stand on "non-commercial" licenses.
> I suppose you know the saying "Give a man a fish; you have fed him 
> for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a 
> lifetime".  Free software projects such as Linux and free contents 
> projects such as Wikipedia are recipies for making your own 
> fishing rod, aiming to give the fish-catcher the most freedom.  
> What if you use it to catch some fish?  Are you allowed to sell 
> that?  Or does your fishing rod come with a limiting clause that 
> says you can only use this tool for Non-Commercial (NC) purposes?  
> Which kind of license gives you the most freedom?
> 

I'll put to you another case.. Suppose someone offers you some fish. Do
you say "I can only accept if I'm allowed to resell the fish, and for a
profit." Or do you say "Thank you sir." - luke