Re: Flame Linus to a crisp!

Werner Almesberger
2003-04-24T22:18:00Z

Alan Cox wrote:
> Either its allowed by the GPL or its not.

A more important barrier than what the GPL allows might be what the
Linux community accepts. If some DRM extensions are never accepted
by enough of the "mainstream", they will fail to work.

The main problem I see with accepting DRM functionality is that it
will encourage frivolous uses of DRM, just because it's possible
then. Just like most vendors instinctively default to closed
source.

It's also worth to keep in mind that such decisions are frequently
taken by people with very different agendas, e.g. if "protected by
DRM" is perceived to appeal to analysts, shareholders or potential
shareholders, it may quickly become policy in many companies, just
like patents did.

- Werner

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/ Werner Almesberger, Buenos Aires, Argentina wa@almesberger.net /
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