Re: mysql.org

[A. Clausen]

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: btjones@stripped
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 12:36:08 -0700

>
>I am far from a legal expert on this... but is it all that bad that
>NuSphere wishes to sell a derivative work of MySQL?  Other than it competes
>with MySQL AB's business of selling their own commercial deployments of the
>package?  And by that I can somewhat see why NuSphere is using the phrase
>"unfair business practice."
>
>I'm fairly certain that MySQL is primarily developed on RedHat Linux
>servers, is it not?  Linux has gotten itself out of the "hackers" domain
>into the mainstream due to the commercial investments of companies like
>RedHat and Caldera, both of which sell the GPL product at a profit,
>including their own enhancements to it.  I can walk into Office Depot this
>afternoon and purchase RedHat 7.x right off the shelf.  It's sitting right
>there beside Windows2000.  Obviously, agreements are in place to allow
>this.  Linux has also suffered its pitfalls from being distributed in this
>manner.  Caldera, Slackware, RedHat and a number of other Linux derivatives
>are not fully inter-operable.  On the other hand, Linus and his friends
>certainly have not suffered from the popularity of his operating system.
>
>MySQL can and will survive as an open-source project.  But to compete truly
>on the commercial level with companies that have PR teams and sales reps
>and advertising budgets (ala Oracle or MicroSoft), commercial investment is
>needed... and that's where companies like NuSphere come into play.  Or will
>MySQL AB be incorporating in the U.S. and offering an IPO?
>
>Of course, the final decision is left to those at MySQL AB.  And whatever
>that decision, rest assured that I am behind it 100%.  I am an avid
>supporter and I continually pitch the worth of all your work to colleges
>all the time.     I simply wish to present the possible positive side of
>this situation for consideration.

HOw is being legal holder of the copyright, and enforcing that copyright, be considered
"unfair business practice"?  Open source is NOT public domain, and those that use MySQL
are bound by the GPL.  If NuSphere does not like that agreement, it, like anybody else,
does not have to use, support, or even mention it.  This is nothing more than an attempt
to wrestle control of a product protected by international convention.  If NuSphere were
permitted to get away with this, it would cast a pall over all open source activities. 
Many open source developers don't mind "giving away" the product, even permitting
derivative works, as long as they are protected from the likes of NuSphere.  Theft is
theft, no matter how you try to rationalize it.