<p>Perhaps this discussion should be taken elsewhere as it seems somewhat off topic :-)
</p>
<p>Quoting Alan Walls <Alan.Walls@trimble.co.nz>:
<br />
<br />> I thought I might, but didn't want to start a flame war.
<br />>
<br />> I completely agree that GPL is quite different to freeware and its
<br />> openness is a huge asset. The majority of the people here should
<br />> understand that. What we fail to remember is that we don't represent
<br />> the majority of the population.
<br />>
<br />> If I ask my mother what the difference between GPL and freeware was I'm
<br />> pretty sure the answer would be "What is GPL?"
<br />>
<br />> I believe this company is just using language that their audience
<br />> understands. Although, maybe I am being generous because this is a
<br />> technical product.
<br />>
<br />>
<br />>> -----Original Message-----
<br />>> From: mythtvnz-bounces@lists.linuxnut.co.nz [mailto:mythtvnz-
<br />>> bounces@lists.linuxnut.co.nz] On Behalf Of Hadley Rich
<br />>> Sent: Monday, 15 June 2009 1:22 p.m.
<br />>> To: MythTV in NZ
<br />>> Subject: Re: [mythtvnz] freeware vs open source (was USB remote
<br />>> receiver)
<br />>>
<br />>> On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 13:10 +1200, Alan Walls wrote:
<br />>> > I agree freeware and GPL are different but only to developers (and
<br />>> > lawyers) (Aren't you both :-) ). For people who don't want anything
<br />>> > to do with compilers they are both the same thing. Saying "GPL"
<br />>> would
<br />>> > confuse rather than help these people. The people who need to know
<br />>> > the difference will do the research to find which is which.
<br />>>
<br />>> Woh there. freeware and the GPL are very different for everyone
<br />> whether
<br />>> they be a developer or not. Sure the end user just gets to "get stuff
<br />>> without paying for it" in both cases but that's not the point.
<br />>>
<br />>> Just because the end user doesn't care about compiling it or looking
<br />> at
<br />>> the source doesn't mean that it doesn't benefit them that it's
<br />>> available
<br />>> with open source programs. Someone else out there has more than likely
<br />>> gone through the source and found any malware parts, things that phone
<br />>> home etc. The same can't be said for "freeware".
<br />>>
<br />>> hads
<br />>> --
<br />>> <a href="http://nicegear.co.nz" target="_blank">http://nicegear.co.nz</a>
<br />>> New Zealand's Open Source Hardware Supplier
<br />>>
<br />>>
<br />>> _______________________________________________
<br />>> mythtvnz mailing list
<br />>> mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
<br />>> <a href="http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz" target="_blank">http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz</a>
<br />>> Archives <a href="http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/" target="_blank">http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/</a>
<br />>
<br />> _______________________________________________
<br />> mythtvnz mailing list
<br />> mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
<br />> <a href="http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz" target="_blank">http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz</a>
<br />> Archives <a href="http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/" target="_blank">http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/</a>
<br />>
<br />
</p><br />