Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Why Isn't GNU Radio Used More?

[Alexander Chemeris]

On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 20:08, Philip Balister <address@hidden> wrote:
> On 05/09/2011 11:57 AM, Michael Dickens wrote:
>>
>> Intellectual Property: Many people / companies view the GPL as being
>> incompatible with IP -- and, whether true or not, this perception is
>> certainly an issue.  To make progress here, maybe GNU Radio could take
>> Ettus' UHD dual-license approach, if that is still possible?  I don't know
>> if the FSF (the copyright owner) would allow such a change; further, even
>> with that change, I think a separate company would need to be setup to deal
>> with the non-GPL license.  I think having a less-restrictive license than
>> the GPL would encourage adoption of GNU Radio in places where IP is an
>> issue. - MLD

That's true - people don't like GPL and a good library has to do
something about it.

> I don't see any point trying to appease the free software is anti IP crowd.
> They will just invent new excuses. It is our job to help these people
> understand how things really work.
>
> I'm also less inclined to contribute to projects using BSD style licenses
> since I see no benefit to me, to contribute to a project that can be used
> for profit by people who do not plan to share the code with their customers.

I believe that a library should use LGPL instead of a "clean" GPL.
Then all contributions to the library are shared with the community,
while people are still allowed to build their black boxes.
Re-licensing of GnuRadio as LGPL would be a big step towards much
higher popularity.

> Anyway, the largest generator of dollars in the free software world is the
> Linux kernel, and that is GPL. So economics suggest GPL is the way to go.

That's not true, Linux kernel itself doesn't generate $$$.
And to say truth - Linux kernel allows you (1) to load binary
proprietary drivers without open-sourcing them and (2) to use it with
user-space programs without open-sourcing them. And this makes Linux
kernel such an awesome thing.
GnuRadio must follow this model if it wants to be considered seriously.

-- 
Regards,
Alexander Chemeris.