[plug] Flamebait

[Christian]

On Thu, Sep 07, 2000 at 11:29:44AM +0800, The Thought Assassin wrote:
> It seemed very forgiving to me, at least in a legal sense. :)
> I presume by "unforgiving" you mean that he explicitly forgave them, thus
> implying that they should not be forgiven implicitly? I agree it does seem
> that way, but unfortunately, in the legal world, these things must be done
> explicitly. The GPL contains a clause by which violating the GPL on a
> particular piece of code bars the violator from using that code under the
> GPL in the future, even in a conforming manner. For this reason, it is
> necessary for the holder of the copyright to explicitly "forgive" the
> violation to prevent any further use of the code still being in violation
> of the GPL. Obviously RMS knows the supreme importance to our community
> of the GPL's legal sanctity, and is taking the necessary steps to ensure
> that it's standing is not undermined.
> Having said that, I would be shocked if the FSF actually did hold
> copyright to any KDE code, as they would certainly have pursued the issue
> legally by now, for the same reason. As such, it was perhaps a little
> presumptious of RMS to offer forgiveness when it was not needed. On the
> other hand, it does set a very good example for others whose code may have
> been used illicitly by KDE in the past.
> In summary, I don't think he was forgiving or unforgiving, he was just
> RMS. RMS seems to be one of the few people who can think on a purely
> intellectual level without allowing emotion or social expectation to
> interfere. As such he can seem insensitive, but is always, always
> consistent in his beliefs/opinions and his statements.

I agree very much with your assessment of what rms said (and him
personally) but I'm puzzled by one thing that maybe you can explain!
Why is it that other people who have violated the GPL have not had to
seek "forgiveness" from the copyright holders for violation in the past?
(Prominent example being Corel but I'm sure people can think of more.)