Mailing List Archive

On Wed, 12 Apr 2000, Patrick Schoonveld wrote:

> I am interested in utilizing GnuPG in an existing windows app that my
> firm has developed. In particular, we would like to use it to generate
> license keys for the product.
^^^^^^^^^^^^

For what are these good?! Sorry, I won't support such mechanisms and
it is sad enough that you can use gpg to do this (if it is a different
process and you promise to deliver the source of gpg)


Werner


--
Werner Koch OpenPGP key 621CC013
OpenIT GmbH tel +49 211 239577-0
Birkenstr. 12 email wk@openit.de
D-40233 Duesseldorf http://www.openit.de

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On Thu, 13 Apr 2000, Werner Koch wrote:

> > In particular, we would like to use it to generate
> > license keys for the product.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^
> For what are these good?! Sorry, I won't support such mechanisms and
> it is sad enough that you can use gpg to do this (if it is a different
> process and you promise to deliver the source of gpg)
If you do really think so, then you should IMHO actually ask yourself if
it is a good idea to release gpg under the terms of the GPL.

GPL means - as far as I understand it - that everyone is free to use the
product for whatever reason one wants. This is also valid for commercial
use and even for creating licensing keys.

Sorry to say that, but GPL means freedom.

Gregory, Waiblingen, Germany
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Jens <info@jens-lang.de> writes:

> GPL means - as far as I understand it - that everyone is free to use the
> product for whatever reason one wants. This is also valid for commercial
> use and even for creating licensing keys.

And likewise, when said software calls GPG to verify the license key,
the user can substitute a modified version which returns what the
program wants to hear.

--
Alan Shutko <ats@acm.org> - In a variety of flavors!
210 days, 19 hours, 14 minutes, 11 seconds till we run away.
The one day you'd sell your soul for something, souls are a glut.

Jens, at 21:16 +0200 on Fri, 14 Apr 2000, wrote:

> GPL means - as far as I understand it - that everyone is free to use the
> product for whatever reason one wants. This is also valid for commercial
> use and even for creating licensing keys.
>
> Sorry to say that, but GPL means freedom.

I totally agree with you on this point. However, I'm interpreting
Warner's statment as expressing his disappointment that people are
'foolishly' still trying to use the concept of license keys to restrict
software. Kinda goes against everything the FSF is against; not that it
minds _that_much_ that people still exhausting energy trying :)

--
Frank Tobin http://www.uiuc.edu/~ftobin/

"To learn what is good and what is to be valued,
those truths which cannot be shaken or changed." Myst: The Book of Atrus

> > I totally agree with you on this point. However, I'm interpreting
> > Warner's statment as expressing his disappointment that people are
> > 'foolishly' still trying to use the concept of license keys to restrict
> > software. Kinda goes against everything the FSF is against; not that it
> > minds _that_much_ that people still exhausting energy trying :)
>
> It's sort of like when people take a product with the BSD license and make
> changes and release it under the GPL. It annoys the original authors
> incredibly, but it is quite legal.

That's because the BSD licence has more freedom than the GPL.

BSD vs. GPL wars are bloody boring. Instead, take a licence that only
allows you to distribute modifications as patches, and the original
authors and (C) holders have dropped out of development ages ago.
That is _real_ fun:-(

You, Jens, wrote:

[Werner Koch]
>> For what are these good?! Sorry, I won't support such mechanisms and
>> it is sad enough that you can use gpg to do this (if it is a different
>> process and you promise to deliver the source of gpg)

> If you do really think so, then you should IMHO actually ask yourself if
> it is a good idea to release gpg under the terms of the GPL.

My opinion with respect to this is that GPL is the lesser evil here.
Explicitly disallowing certain uses causes more problems than it's woth IMO,
without solving any problems (see the crypto export rules from the USA, do
they really believe that Iraq and North-Korea don't get pgp when if they
want to have it?).

--
ir. J.C.A. Wevers // Physics and science fiction site:
johanw@vulcan.xs4all.nl // http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/index.html
PGP/GPG public keys at http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/pgpkeys.html

Jens <info@jens-lang.de> writes:

> On Thu, 13 Apr 2000, Werner Koch wrote:
>
> > > In particular, we would like to use it to generate
> > > license keys for the product.
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > For what are these good?! Sorry, I won't support such mechanisms and
> > it is sad enough that you can use gpg to do this (if it is a different
> > process and you promise to deliver the source of gpg)

> If you do really think so, then you should IMHO actually ask yourself if
> it is a good idea to release gpg under the terms of the GPL.

Eh, do you really think a free software author is forced to support
silly (sorry, Patrick) user requests?

> Sorry to say that, but GPL means freedom.

Yes, but this kind of freedom might even be abused to restrict freedom
of others. And that's certainly a sad thing.

On Fri, 14 Apr 2000, Jens wrote:

> GPL means - as far as I understand it - that everyone is free to use the
> product for whatever reason one wants. This is also valid for commercial
> use and even for creating licensing keys.
>
> Sorry to say that, but GPL means freedom.

Yes. I simply expressed that I am not very happy about that usage. But
I can't and will never decide who is going to use a software; that is
simply not up to me. There are many other usage patterns I certainly
don't like (miltitary usage) and which I won't support either voluntary or
paid.

There is a big difference between supporting a software and allowing
to use it.

Werner

--
Werner Koch OpenPGP key 621CC013
OpenIT GmbH tel +49 211 239577-0
Birkenstr. 12 email wk@openit.de
D-40233 Duesseldorf http://www.openit.de