Post #1354104

2026-03-17 04:53 UTC

@mitsuhiko I'm assuming that you don't mind replies. Sorry if I'm mistaken. One point that I'd like to make about GPL vs permissive is that its usefulness depends on what the software is. The main benefit that I see from GPL is that it protects downstream. For an OS, that means that all programs that run on the OS can rely upon the OS being maintainable by society. The goal isn't protecting the OS. It's protecting (as in art preservation) the software that runs on it.

Replies (1)

@scottmichaud@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-03-17 04:57

@mitsuhiko A permissive license allows an entity to become defacto standard, and then rug-pull. Forks are possible from that point, but it's flimsy. Conversely, if downstream protection doesn't apply, then GPL doesn't make as much sense. There was one permissive library that I saw (Apache IIRC???) whose documentation was mostly examples, and the examples were GPL. 😅 What was the goal!? (Likely a goof.) Ideally, all creations would belong to everyone in society, but we're not at a utopia yet.

Open ##1354105