Fwd: GMP license problem, anyone?

[Torbjorn Granlund]

I will not follow up on the last round of allegations.

False allegations are difficult to deal with; if you don't comment, it
might be taken a sign of silent confession, and if you do comment,
then your might blow the thing up more "he feels he needs to deny it,
so there must be some truth to it".

The discussion has revealed several important things though: That the
background to some SAGE developers' actions is to be traced back to a
deal they have with Microsoft.  We now have it from the horse's mouth
that they promised Microsoft to stay with L(GPL)v2+ and thus at least
indirectly promised Microsoft to fork GMP.  I will refer to this fork
as the "SAGE/Microsoft GMP fork".

We have also learned that SAGE will make a non-free private release to
Microsoft.  In return they get a "donation".  I'd call this selling
free software, hoarding the specific sources for the release.

I don't have a problem with Maple/Mathematica/Magma making money out
of my work.  I wish they one day free their products.  People who
release their work under the LGPL are aware of that people can make
money off the work.

But I do have a problem with SAGE's closed special Microsoft release
in exchange for a "donation".  Not because they, like Maple et al, are
making money from other people's work, but because of the closed
release.

-- 
Torbjörn