> If you make changes and distribute them, the least you can do is return the favour and give them back
I agree. But if your code is a minor library like a json parser, a dijkstras algorithm solver, or a custom button? Should all of my company's product's code neccesarily be GPL as well? What if we already use non-free code from somewhere else? Even if we are happy to fix and contribute back all buggs we find, and any feature we add, we can't. Because you won't let us use the code without GPL.
Now you will tell me that is what the LGPL is for.
...until I want to release my product on the Appstore. The user can't replace the dynamically loaded library, so the LGPL doesn't apply. Then I need to make sure there is an exception for this specific use case.
Headache.
You might argue that without the GPl, i have no incentive to contribute back the bugfix I did. Let's for the sake of this argument pretend that I'm a heartless sociopath, driven only by greed.
By contributing back buggfixes, I make sure future versions of your code (with other peoples buggfixes) include my fix, and is compatible and field tested with it. There is no downside to me, since my competitors either haven't run into the bug or can fix it themselves.
I agree. But if your code is a minor library like a json parser, a dijkstras algorithm solver, or a custom button? Should all of my company's product's code neccesarily be GPL as well? What if we already use non-free code from somewhere else? Even if we are happy to fix and contribute back all buggs we find, and any feature we add, we can't. Because you won't let us use the code without GPL.
Now you will tell me that is what the LGPL is for.
...until I want to release my product on the Appstore. The user can't replace the dynamically loaded library, so the LGPL doesn't apply. Then I need to make sure there is an exception for this specific use case.
Headache.
You might argue that without the GPl, i have no incentive to contribute back the bugfix I did. Let's for the sake of this argument pretend that I'm a heartless sociopath, driven only by greed.
By contributing back buggfixes, I make sure future versions of your code (with other peoples buggfixes) include my fix, and is compatible and field tested with it. There is no downside to me, since my competitors either haven't run into the bug or can fix it themselves.