“The whole notion of intellectual property and rights of
creators is in turmoil. Richard Stallman, who proposed and
champions the GPL rules, has one view , which essentially abolishes
intellectual-property rights in software in favor of open sources.
That view is not shared by everyone, including many who otherwise
admire Stallman and his work in developing GNU. Allchin clearly has
another, and if one reads what he said as opposed to what most of
his detractors imagined that he said, it’s quite valid. He may be
wrong, but on this issue he’s certainly not nuts.”
“I suspect it will take years to resolve the issues of
intellectual property in software, particularly with regard to
software developed at universities and under government contracts.
The matter isn’t simple, and the slashdot sloganeers aren’t helping
the matter much by sensationalizing any attempt to discuss the
matter. Fie upon them.“