I hate to
pay too much attention to issues that are so trivial that you want people just to shut up and accept it: A couple of weeks ago, WordPress came a bit in the news because a popular theme maker refused to abide the GPL with one of his popular themes. That link points to a metafilter thread and the discussion goes to the extremes with regards to the GPL: there’s even some ‘libertarian’ views why the GPL is bad. This comment precisely details my point of view and I quote:
At the end of the day, Chris wants to build on top of GPL’d software to make money, but does not want to respect the licensing requirements that come with the GPL. He — and others who agree with him — are taking their stand on hair-splitty definitions to circumvent the clearly explained intention of the license. “You can do what you want with this GPL software, including building stuff on top of it. If you build stuff on top of it, though, and you distribute it to other people, you must give the same rights to them.”
There’s a reason why GPL-ed code is called viral: if you don’t want your code touched by that license, don’t build on GPL-ed code.
Via the UK’s Telegraph, I read that 40% of Americans believe that the Lord will return before 2050. Why not by 2030 or 2040, I wonder? On the other hand, 2050 is an excellent year as it is right in between 2100 and 2000. 2050 is definitely not a prime-number. On a serious note: Why don’t newspapers link to the official Pew statistics? The Pew report is right here.
You know, with China being the sole creditor in the world (I bet Keynes didn’t see this come), I find articles like these both hilarious and sad. Obviously, in China, there’s a need for a certain type of people to make things look official.