People use this forum to talk about wants, needs, problems, potential problems, potential solutions, and to indulge in the comraderie of early adopters who believed in Empeg as a concept before it was an actual product -- and believe even more in Empeg now that it's produced its first batch of units.

That's all that's happened here; this discussion was right on target as far as I'm concerned. Several valid points/perspectives were aired and I'm glad it occurred as I learned a few things about the GPL. I'm also thankful for the public discussion because its candid nature only serves to strengthen my belief in Empeg as a company; they didn't try to sweep this under the rug like many companies would. I value such open honesty...

As is the nature of early adopters, we tend to hack on things. Bruce's actions seek to keep that priviledge legally available and free. Empeg benefits directly from his work and we, the owners and potential owners, benefit from both Bruce's -AND- Empeg's work. Let's not forget that fact while slinging labels like "zealot" around. Were it not for the GPL and the people who protect their work under it, the Empeg would be more expensive than it already is due to the costs of compilers, shell tools, and other such things that big businesses (I'll name no names) tend to scarf up and sell at ludicrous costs to get THEIR fraction of the pie that someone else is actually earning.

Does a company have a right to charge you an arm and a leg for a tool? Yes.

Do you have alternatives to giving up your arm and your leg? Thanks to things like the GPL -- yes, but you have to do some things to support the GPL in return for what you get from it. They aren't hard to do ... they take a lot less time than writing your own tools ... and a lot less money than buying tools from (still unnamed) big companies. This is a no-brainer in my opinion...

-- Bleys


"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca