[Rd] Discussion of the GPL on Groklaw

[Douglas Bates]

I'm not looking to start a discussion of the GPL on R-devel; I'm just 
giving a reference because the subject of the GPL, the license under 
which R is issued, has been brought up on this list.

If you want to follow some of the legal discussion of the Free Software 
Foundation's General Public License (GPL), the web site groklaw.net is 
required reading.  One reason is because Pamela Jones (PJ as she is 
known there), the primary author, writes so well.  Even if I didn't 
agree with her opinions I would enjoy her writing.

Recently a lawyer wrote an article for LinuxInsider criticizing the GPL. 
  PJ rebuts the article in 
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2004072110004290

One thing to realize about legal discussions of the GPL is that the 
whole concept is so foreign to the typical corporate lawyer that they 
frequently misconstrue it, as you will see in PJ's comments about the 
article.  Also, some proprietary software companies have taken to 
spreading FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) about the GPL and many 
people take such material at face value.