www/philosophy philosophy.html vaccination.html

[Yavor Doganov]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Yavor Doganov <yavor>   08/09/23 11:05:33

Modified files:
        philosophy     : philosophy.html 
Added files:
        philosophy     : vaccination.html 

Log message:
        Add new article "Viral Code and Vaccination" by Bob Chassell (RT
        #377629).

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/philosophy.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.291&r2=1.292
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/vaccination.html?cvsroot=www&rev=1.1

Patches:
Index: philosophy.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/philosophy.html,v
retrieving revision 1.291
retrieving revision 1.292
diff -u -b -r1.291 -r1.292
--- philosophy.html     18 Sep 2008 06:03:40 -0000      1.291
+++ philosophy.html     23 Sep 2008 11:05:30 -0000      1.292
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@
   <li><a href="/philosophy/why-copyleft.html">Why Copyleft?</a></li>
   <li><a href="/philosophy/university.html">Releasing Free Software if You 
Work at a University</a></li>
   <li><a href="/philosophy/pragmatic.html">Copyleft: Pragmatic 
Idealism</a></li>
+  <li><a href="/philosophy/vaccination.html">Viral Code and
+  Vaccination</a>, an article by Robert J. Chassell</li>
   <li><a href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/20050211.html";>Censorship 
envy and licensing</a></li>
   <li><a href="/philosophy/x.html">The X Window System Trap</a></li>
   <li><a href="/philosophy/apsl.html">The Problems of the Apple 
License</a></li>
@@ -464,7 +466,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2008/09/18 06:03:40 $
+$Date: 2008/09/23 11:05:30 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>

Index: vaccination.html
===================================================================
RCS file: vaccination.html
diff -N vaccination.html
--- /dev/null   1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ vaccination.html    23 Sep 2008 11:05:30 -0000      1.1
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<title>Viral Code and Vaccination - GNU Project - Free Software 
Foundation</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Viral Code and Vaccination</h2>
+
+<p>by <a href="http://www.rattlesnake.com/";><strong>Robert
+J. Chassell</strong></a></p>
+
+<p>When others hurt me, I try to defend myself.  But some tell me that
+this makes them sick.  They tell me that I should permit people to rob
+me of my work.  They tell me that I should never try to defend
+myself.</p>
+
+<p>They tell me that I should stop using the GNU General Public
+License, a license that vaccinates me against hurt.  Instead, I should
+adopt a license that permits other people to rob me with impunity.
+They want me to adopt a license that forbids me from fighting back.
+They want me to give up my right to benefit from a derivative of my
+own work, a right I possess under current copyright law.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the language is a little less feverish than this.
+Usually, I myself am not called &ldquo;infectious&rdquo;.  Rather, the
+legal defense that I use is called &ldquo;infectious&rdquo;.  The
+license I choose is called &ldquo;viral&rdquo;.</p>
+
+<p>In every day language, words such as &ldquo;infect&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;virus&rdquo; describe disease.  The rhetoric is metaphorical.
+A legal tool is not a disease organism; but it is popular to think of
+the law as an illness, so the metaphor has impact.</p>
+
+<p>The people who want to rob me use language that says I make them
+sick when I stop them from robbing me.  They do not want to draw
+attention to the so-called &ldquo;disease&rdquo; that makes them ill:
+my health and my rights, and the health and rights of other people.
+Instead, they choose metaphor to twist people's thinking.  They do not
+want anyone to think that I am a good citizen for stopping crime.
+They want the metaphor to fool others into thinking that I am a
+disease agent.</p>
+
+<p>The GNU General Public License protects me.  The connotation of
+&ldquo;virus&rdquo; and &ldquo;infect&rdquo; is that my choice of
+defense gives an illness to those who want to rob me.  I want freedom
+from their robbery; but they want the power to hurt me.  They get sick
+when they cannot hurt me.</p>
+
+<p>To use another health and illness-related metaphor, the GNU General
+Public License <em>vaccinates</em> me; it protects me from theft.</p>
+
+<p>Note that the theft about which I am talking is entirely legal in
+some situations: if you license your work under a modified BSD
+license, or a similar license, then others may legally take your work,
+make fixes or improvements to it, and forbid you from using that
+code. I personally dislike this arrangement, but it exists.</p>
+
+</div>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+
+<p>
+Please send FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to 
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> 
+the FSF.
+<br />
+Please send broken links and other corrections or suggestions to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Please see the 
+<a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting
+translations of this article.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Copyright &copy; 2008 Robert J. Chassell
+</p>
+<p>Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are
+permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this
+notice, and the copyright notice, are preserved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2008/09/23 11:05:30 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div id="translations">
+<h4>Translations of this page</h4>
+
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical by language code. -->
+<!-- Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is German. -->
+<!-- Write the language name in its own language (Deutsch) in the text. -->
+<!-- If you add a new language here, please -->
+<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
+<!--  - /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
+<!--  - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
+<!--  - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
+<!--  to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
+<!-- Please also check you have the language code right; see: -->
+<!-- http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php -->
+<!-- If the 2-letter ISO 639-1 code is not available, -->
+<!-- use the 3-letter ISO 639-2. -->
+<!-- Please use W3C normative character entities. -->
+
+<ul class="translations-list">
+<!-- English -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/vaccination.html">English</a>&nbsp;[en]</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>