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Re: GCC 4.4.0 Status Report (2009-03-13)
On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 1:14 PM, Richard Kenner
<kenner@vlsi1.ultra.nyu.edu> wrote:
>> Many of the contributors worked (and still work) for organizations
>> that compete with each other: if there weren't some nonprofit with
>> legal ownership of the code one would have had to be invented.
>
> I think this is an important point, and one that many developers have
> forgotten about: GCC is not just a volunteer effort, but one that involves
> a lot of companies, who are often competitors. ?These companies can only
> legally work together on a project under certain conditions, and the
> existence of the FSF who owns the code is one of the ways (and the best
> way) that can be done.
There are many corporate-sponsored projects out there that do just as
well, if not better, without the "help" of the FSF. Linux itself is
the most prominent example. There, competing companies get along Just
Fine without involvement of *any* pre-set conditions or legal
frameworks other than a Free license.
I think it is members of the GCC community (especially some of the
older) ones who like to forget that.
>?Given the universality of GCC nowadays, the risk of
> anti-trust law being invoked on its development should be more than a
> theoretical concern.
Say what??
Ciao!
Steven