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gpl-lgpl.tex
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gpl-lgpl.tex
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@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ and developer base.
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\subsection{The Commercial Community}
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By the same token, nearly all established GPL'd software systems have a
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vibrant commercial community. Nearly every GPL'd system that has gained
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vibrant commercial community. Nearly every GPL'd system that has gained
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wide adoption from noncommercial users and developers eventually begins
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to fuel a commercial system around that software.
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@ -581,34 +581,34 @@ it was deployed noncommercially in academic environments\footnote{See
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``A bit of history and a bit of fun''}. However, very
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soon for-profit companies discovered that the software could work for them
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as well, and their system administrators began to use it in place of
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Microsoft Windows NT file-servers. This served to lower the cost of
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Microsoft Windows NT file-servers. This served to lower the cost of
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running such servers by orders of magnitude. There was suddenly room in
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Windows file-server budgets to hire contractors to improve Samba. Some of
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Windows file-server budgets to hire contractors to improve Samba. Some of
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the first people hired to do such work were those same two graduate
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students who originally developed the software.
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The noncommercial users, however, were not concerned when these two
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fellows began collecting paychecks off of their GPL'd work. They knew
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fellows began collecting paychecks off of their GPL'd work. They knew
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that because of the nature of the GPL that improvements that were
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distributed in the commercial environment could easily be folded back into
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the standard version. Companies are not permitted to proprietarize
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the standard version. Companies are not permitted to proprietarize
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Samba, so the noncommercial users, and even other commercial users are
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safe in the knowledge that the software freedom ensured by GPL will remain
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protected.
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Commercial developers also work in concert with noncommercial
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developers. Those two now-long-since graduated students continue to
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developers. Those two now-long-since graduated students continue to
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contribute to Samba altruistically, but also get paid work doing it.
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Priorities change when a client is in the mix, but all the code is
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contributed back to the standard version. Meanwhile, many other
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contributed back to the standard version. Meanwhile, many other
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individuals have gotten involved noncommercially as developers,
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because they want to ``cut their teeth on Free Software,'' or because
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the problems interest them. When they get good at it, perhaps they
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the problems interest them. When they get good at it, perhaps they
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will move on to another project, or perhaps they will become
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commercial developers of the software themselves.
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No party is a threat to another in the GPL software scenario because
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everyone is on equal ground. The GPL protects rights of the commercial
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everyone is on equal ground. The GPL protects rights of the commercial
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and noncommercial contributors and users equally. The GPL creates trust,
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because it is a level playing field for all.
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@ -617,47 +617,47 @@ because it is a level playing field for all.
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In his introduction to Stallman's \emph{Free Software, Free Society},
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Lawrence Lessig draws an interesting analogy between the law and Free
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Software. He argues that the laws of a free society must be protected
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much like the GPL protects software. So that I might do true justice to
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much like the GPL protects software. So that I might do true justice to
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Lessig's argument, I quote it verbatim:
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\begin{quotation}
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A ``free society'' is regulated by law. But there are limits that any free
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society places on this regulation through law: No society that kept its
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laws secret could ever be called free. No government that hid its
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laws secret could ever be called free. No government that hid its
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regulations from the regulated could ever stand in our tradition. Law
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controls. But it does so justly only when visibly. And law is visible
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controls. But it does so justly only when visibly. And law is visible
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only when its terms are knowable and controllable by those it regulates,
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or by the agents of those it regulates (lawyers, legislatures).
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This condition on law extends beyond the work of a legislature. Think
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about the practice of law in American courts. Lawyers are hired by their
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clients to advance their clients' interests. Sometimes that interest is
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This condition on law extends beyond the work of a legislature. Think
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about the practice of law in American courts. Lawyers are hired by their
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clients to advance their clients' interests. Sometimes that interest is
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advanced through litigation. In the course of this litigation, lawyers
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write briefs. These briefs in turn affect opinions written by judges.
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These opinions decide who wins a particular case, or whether a certain law
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can stand consistently with a constitution.
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All the material in this process is free in the sense that Stallman means.
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Legal briefs are open and free for others to use. The arguments are
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Legal briefs are open and free for others to use. The arguments are
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transparent (which is different from saying they are good), and the
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reasoning can be taken without the permission of the original lawyers.
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The opinions they produce can be quoted in later briefs. They can be
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copied and integrated into another brief or opinion. The ``source code''
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The opinions they produce can be quoted in later briefs. They can be
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copied and integrated into another brief or opinion. The ``source code''
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for American law is by design, and by principle, open and free for anyone
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to take. And take lawyers do---for it is a measure of a great brief that
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it achieves its creativity through the reuse of what happened before. The
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it achieves its creativity through the reuse of what happened before. The
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source is free; creativity and an economy is built upon it.
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This economy of free code (and here I mean free legal code) doesn't starve
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lawyers. Law firms have enough incentive to produce great briefs even
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though the stuff they build can be taken and copied by anyone else. The
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lawyer is a craftsman; his or her product is public. Yet the crafting is
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lawyers. Law firms have enough incentive to produce great briefs even
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though the stuff they build can be taken and copied by anyone else. The
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lawyer is a craftsman; his or her product is public. Yet the crafting is
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not charity. Lawyers get paid; the public doesn't demand such work
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without price. Instead this economy flourishes, with later work added to
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without price. Instead this economy flourishes, with later work added to
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the earlier.
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We could imagine a legal practice that was different---briefs and
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We could imagine a legal practice that was different --- briefs and
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arguments that were kept secret; rulings that announced a result but not
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the reasoning. Laws that were kept by the police but published to no one
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else. Regulation that operated without explaining its rule.
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@ -666,31 +666,31 @@ We could imagine this society, but we could not imagine calling it
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``free.'' Whether or not the incentives in such a society would be better
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or more efficiently allocated, such a society could not be known as free.
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The ideals of freedom, of life within a free society, demand more than
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efficient application. Instead, openness and transparency are the
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efficient application. Instead, openness and transparency are the
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constraints within which a legal system gets built, not options to be
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added if convenient to the leaders. Life governed by software code should
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added if convenient to the leaders. Life governed by software code should
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be no less.
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Code writing is not litigation. It is better, richer, more
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productive. But the law is an obvious instance of how creativity and
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Code writing is not litigation. It is better, richer, more
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productive. But the law is an obvious instance of how creativity and
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incentives do not depend upon perfect control over the products
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created. Like jazz, or novels, or architecture, the law gets built
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created. Like jazz, or novels, or architecture, the law gets built
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upon the work that went before. This adding and changing is what
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creativity always is. And a free society is one that assures that its
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creativity always is. And a free society is one that assures that its
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most important resources remain free in just this sense.\footnote{This
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quotation is Copyright \copyright{} 2002, Lawrence Lessig. It is
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licensed under the terms of
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\texttt{http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/}{the ``Attribution
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\href{http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/}{the ``Attribution
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License'' version 1.0} or any later version as published by Creative
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Commons.}
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\end{quotation}
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In essence, lawyers are paid to service the shared commons of legal
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infrastructure. Few citizens defend themselves in court or write their
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infrastructure. Few citizens defend themselves in court or write their
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own briefs (even though they are legally permitted to do so) because
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everyone would prefer to have an expert do that job.
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The Free Software economy is a market ripe for experts. It
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The Free Software economy is a market ripe for experts. It
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functions similarly to other well established professional fields like the
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law. The GPL, in turn, serves as the legal scaffolding that permits the
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creation of this vibrant commercial and noncommercial Free Software
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