[CLUE-Tech] GPL loopholes

[Angelo Bertolli]

> I see a lot of people complaining about companies violating the GPL (most
> of which turn out to be untrue).  I wish more people would complain about
> the end-users.  If you're a student, I can see going free-as-in-beer.
> But if you've got a paying job, or if you're making money off free
> software, you need to be kicking a little back in.  The revolution doesn't
> run by the grace of St. IGNUcious alone, it needs a little bread too. :)

One of the things I've heard people say about why THEY use GPL is that 
they get paid back in more than just money.  Sure, if you have the money 
you should contribute--otherwise are you really part of the community or 
just a leech?  But don't forget that even if you don't have money, you 
can still contribute to the community, either in source code, tutorials, 
spreading the word, etc.

But in the end I think people have realized that since MS runs something 
like 90% of the desktop market, that merely having more people use linux 
contributes to the community.  It's sad that companies who make a profit 
will turn around and try to cut corners especially on the "givers"--I 
know this has happened to me before.  What's even worse is that they 
created 15 different accounts!  You can actually update all your 
machines from the one account if they're basically all the same machine 
and they're networked (just keep the rpms).  So they are also wasting 
more resources on Red Hat's servers with all their accounts.  I guess RH 
allows this, but considering all the money they're saving by not using 
MS, you'd think they could kick back some to RH.

Angelo