[vlc-devel] STOP! Think. Act... (was Re: Formal complaint -censorship)

[salsaman]

I'm sorry to butt in again, especially as I am fairly new on the
mailing list, but...

I agree with the calmer voices that have been raised. I would like to
point out the follwoing

1) If you (vlc team) turn a blind eye to what Apple are doing, then
don't be surprised if, some time in the future, some other company
puts out a closed source version of VLC. When you complain, they can
then (quite rightly) point out the fact that you allow Apple to
distribute VLC under terms which are incompatible with the GPL.

2) It seems that this issue is gathering more publicity, and many see
it as an opportunity to open dialog with Apple to persuade them to
change their licensing policy for GPL applications. If you have
contacts there, please remind them that what they are doing
(relicensing GPL code under another license) is actually illegal under
copyright law, and that  if they wish to continue distributing GPL
code they will have to make exceptions for it in their TOS. If you can
do this it will be a big win not just for VLC but for all GPL
applications.

3) This is your chance to be heroes ! Don't let it slip through your fingers...


Regards,
Salsaman.



http://lives.sourceforge.net
https://www.ohloh.net/accounts/salsaman




On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 11:21 PM, Guy Perkins <me at atdotmedotuk.me.uk> wrote:
> Absolutely. Agree totally.
>
> (I may be repeating some of Yuval's thread, but I will anyway)
> All the great things about VLC & all the work that has been done all
> over the world on such a ground breaking & universal app, no wonder
> people want it.(Don't be surprised, be proud)
>
> Please keep perspective.
> This issue, although appearing massive now, is really dwarfed by VLC &
> it's massive achievements, that all of you have contributed to.
> That means "you", yes, all of you.
> Sure there may be some of you that currently feel aggrieved in some way,
> but please everybody take a step back & understand & appreciate
> "everyone's" genuine input, both past & present.
>
> Hence my total agreement with Yuval's sentiment.
> Please get together, decide what VLC wants & needs, how is best to
> achieve it, and watch the common ground appear like lines of beautiful
> code before your eyes.
>
> While I understand and appreciate Yuval's restraint in offering an
> opinion, the only comment I would offer, (again from a position of a
> mere user with interest), is that people who coded & contributed in the
> past on the basis of the GNU should be respected. Without their past
> input I'm sure VLC would not be what it is today, if in existence at
> all.
>
> That said, please also appreciate peoples genuine desire to see VLC
> where it should be, right at the top.
> I'm sure there will be a way to achieve this that is agreeable to the
> vlc-devel team and I'm also confident that you will all find it.
>
> So, please do not lose sight of the real appreciation of users all over
> the globe who owe each and every one of you much much more than a beer
> or 2.
> Let's face it, some of the largest corporations in the world with
> billions of dollars in the bank are still peddling OS's & apps that can
> only be described a legacy product.(Hell, the planet runs on them.)
>
> Be proud, each and every one of you. You are stars. ALL OF YOU!!!
>
> Sincere thanks and appreciation.
>
> Guy
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vlc-devel-bounces at videolan.org
> [mailto:vlc-devel-bounces at videolan.org] On Behalf Of Yuval Levy
> Sent: 26 October 2010 20:10
> To: vlc-devel at videolan.org
> Subject: [vlc-devel] STOP! Think. Act... (was Re: Formal complaint
> -censorship)
>
>
> Hey guys,
>
> this looks ugly, is getting uglier, and guess who is winning and who is
> losing
> here?
>
> 1.   It's a fact that Apple and copyleft are like oil and water.  They
> don't
> mix well. The App Store's terms are incompatible with GPLv2 (additional
> distribution restrictions).
>
>
> 2.  Rémi's PR backfired.  Optimal would have been to ask Apple to comply
> with
> the GPL and let them sort out how.  Publish the request and Apple's
> answer and
> let the public judge Apple by its own action.  Not to request negative
> action
> and blurt about it in public.
>
>
> 3.  From a Public Relations perspective it makes sense to temporarily
> suspend
> the planet and iron out the differences *in private*.  Not to wait for
> the
> problem to spill out on a public mailing list.  To add an "opinions
> expressed
> hereafter" blah blah exacerbates the conflict.
>
> *Have you tried to contact Rémi before he posted here?  YES or NO?*
>
>
> 4.  All the insults at Richard (J) Stallman's and Steve (M) Jobs'
> followers do
> not help  VLC.  I hope that most people here are agnostic or tolerant
> enough
> to recognize that the cone rules here, not the forbidden fruit or the
> African
> bovine.  Karma over dogma.  Stop trading insults over such a silly
> dispute.
>
> 5.  The dispute ("censorship") is silly.  The underlying cause (license
> infringement) is not.  There may be good reasons to be tolerant of grey
> zones.
> Or not.  Pull yourself together.  List the pros and cons for tolerating
> a grey
> zone in the case of the App Store.  Make a common decision and act
> accordingly.  As a team, not as individuals.  Fix the ugly PR.  Fix the
> temporary suspension of the planet.  Get back to be the heroes coding on
> the
> best media player in the world.
>
> If you want my personal opinion on the issue and how to fix it, let me
> know.
> For now I keep my two cents for myself because I don't consider myself
> important enough to your community.  I'm just a user who loves VLC.
>
> So:
> 1. list the pros and cons of living with the App Store vs. GPL gray zone
> 2. decide if you can live with it or not 3. act upon it 4. fix the pr 5.
> fix the planet 6. live long and prosper
>
> Yuv
>
>
> On October 26, 2010 02:10:10 pm Christophe Mutricy wrote:
>> > This is a formal complaint against whoever unilaterally decided to
>> > take my RSS feed out
>>
>> Which is not the case: http://www.remlab.net/feed.xml still works from
>
>> here
>>
>> > and then shut down planet.videolan.org
>>
>> For this one yes
>>
>> > This is called censorship.
>>
>> Abusing VideoLAN's ressources to distribute blog post in the form of
>> Press Release is not really nice either. Non-tech people will fail to
>> not the planet part of the URL and have certainly no clue about
>> aggregation. They will fail to understand that it is your personal
>> actions and opinions.
>>
>> I initially wanted to add a "opinions expressed hereafter are not
>> necessarly VideoLAN opinions" kind of text (hopefully will less
>> legalese) but it was defeated by my lack of templating skill at 11pm.
>>
>> Regards,
>
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