MegaSquirt and GNU

[Orin]

> >* slimeballs are discouraged.  Since the design is freely available, the
> >only thing that someone can charge money for is tangible items (boards,
> >parts kits, etc.), and support after the sale.  You can't charge much
> >over cost for tangibles, because anyone else can go buy the parts
> >themselves.  And a slimeball won't be able to support the product, so
> >there's no money available there either.
> >
> >This model works, and it works on a large scale -- AMD has donated
> >hardware to the Linux community to make sure they'll support the
> >Sledgehammer chip, Red Hat donates hardware to GNU to help improve the
> >free software that they sell.  Even companies like Compaq and Dell, who
> >most would think are in league with Hell's remote office in Redmond,
> >sell GNU products and provide support and development back to the free
> >community.
> 
> Thank you for clarifying that. It begins to make more sense to me now.
> I think an important thing to note is that with this model, you can 
> choose to directly support only the product purchased - those who 
> build their own are on their own. Basic support could be given in the 
> form of FAQ, discussion board, or whatever, but direct call-them-up 
> tech support is part of the purchase package.

Exactly.  That's what the Linux distributors are doing.  You get something
like 30 days of support when you buy the package and pay for subsequent
support.  There is a wealth of FAQs, newsgroups discussion boards
mailing lists etc. which are all free.

> One question - if the product is appropriated by the hypothetical 
> slimeball, is he required to note where the original design came 
> from? Something like a copyright acknowledgement without the fees?

>From the GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html)

<<1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program. >>

So, all you need to do is put all the information you want noted
along with the statement that it is released under the GPL.
Then it would come under "all the notices that refer to this License"
and would be required to be "kept intact".

If the slimeball doesn't follow the terms, then of course, all bets
are off, but there is a history of enforcement of GPL where slimeball
companies tried to use it in their products without releasing 
derivative works under GPL.

>From http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html

<<...A programmer may want to contribute her changes to the community, but her employer may want to turn the changes into a proprietary software product. 

When we explain to the employer that it is illegal to distribute the improved version except as free software, the employer usually decides to release it as free software rather than throw it away. >>

Orin.
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