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[Fsfe-france] Re: pgAdmin is proprietary software


From: Dave Page
Subject: [Fsfe-france] Re: pgAdmin is proprietary software
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 16:46:17 +0100 (BST)

It's rumoured that Loic Dachary once said:
>
>       Hi,
>
>       I'm only suggesting to display the fact that pgAdmin is under
> a proprietary license in a clear way in the web pages and in the
> distribution. Could you please do that ?
>
>       At present pgAdmin is a proprietary software hidden in a
> deceptive Free Software wrapping. This deliberate strategy is not
> honest, it is misleading for most pgAdmin users.

Hang on a second before you go accusing us of anything -

Question: Where exactly have we said that pgAdmin is Free Software or Open
Source by the FSF's definition?
Answer: Nowhere.

Question: Are the terms of use for pgAdmin made clear on the website?

Answer: Yes. In numerous places including the second paragraph of the
front page of the website where it says:
It is freely available under the terms of the pgAdmin Public Licence and
may be redistributed provided the terms of the licence are adhered to.
Including a link to the licence.

I do a lot of work with pgAdmin and other Open Source software, including
work with the UK government and the one thing I come across again and
again is this attitude that software that doesn't conform to the FSF's
view of the ways things should be is evil. In my mind this makes people
that share this view as bad as companies like Microsoft and I have had
first hand experience of such attitudes actually turning people against
the ideals being preached because of the narrow mindedness and apparent
fanaticism of those preaching them.
We (the pgAdmin team), like anyone else can release software under
whatever terms we like as long as they are legal. We have tried to make
them fair to the end user to allow them freedom, whilst retaining some
control over our hundreds of hours of hard work. I for one really don't
care if the FSF don't like our licence because I know at heart that we
have never tried to deceive anyone, and have always tried to give end
users and developers like you and I as much freedom as possible whilst
protecting ourselves from corporate exploitation.
Regards, Dave.






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