[OSM-talk] Users whose contributions are in the public domain

[Ted Mielczarek]

On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Ari Torhamo <ari.torhamo at gmail.com> wrote:
> su, 2008-05-04 kello 15:40 +0200, Mike Collinson kirjoitti:
>> At 01:33 PM 4/05/2008, Ari Torhamo wrote:
>> >la, 2008-05-03 kello 17:39 -0400, Ted Mielczarek kirjoitti:
>> >
>> >> Why else are we contributing
>> >> this data if not for people to *use* it?
>> >
>> >I suggest you go and present this breath taking argument to RMS, and we
>> >might soon get an updated, more free version of GPL.
>> >
>> >Ari
>>
>> The GPL works very well as it already allows folks to *use*
software with no restriction on what they make with that use.
>>
>> Adding something new to GPL software source code is clearly
different from using existing GPL software to do something new.  That
distinction is far from clear when using collations of facts like OSM
data.  So a different model is required.  The PD argument is a very
easy and elegant solution, but it makes some contributors very
uncomfortable.   The new license being worked on seeks to make a,
hopefully, comprehensible distinction for factual data.
>
> OK, thanks for explaining this. I was actually just responding to
> sarcasm that I didn't like, but perhaps I could have been more educated
> doing it  :-) (or perhaps it would be best that we weren't sarcastic to
> each other at all).

For what it's worth, I wasn't being sarcastic, more like exasperated.
I hate seeing licensing issues confound useful activities, whether
they be software, music, art, or mapping. Seeing people wasting time
having a discussion about whether they can legally use something
instead of spending that time doing something useful makes me sad. I
apologize if I came off as sarcastic, it can be difficult to infer
tone over email!

Regards,
-Ted