I can't believe how many people misunderstand the cancer quote. What he was quite correctly saying that if your code touches GPL, your code becomes GPL, too. Just like if your healthy organ accepts a metastasis it becomes cancer, too. It's just a statement of fact. Cancer is of course a emotionally loaded term, but it's also a physical process. When you make cells immortal they also become cancerous. So immortality=cancer => GPL = immortality
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Others have mentioned the technical reasons, so I’ll go with something else.
Some of us remember Ballmer calling our freedom a “cancer.”
Trust is built slowly yet dashed quickly. There are so many respectful choices today. Little reason to pick the once abusive but rehabilitated.
This comment about MS caught with its hands in the cookie jar always makes me laugh: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31727293
I can't believe how many people misunderstand the cancer quote. What he was quite correctly saying that if your code touches GPL, your code becomes GPL, too. Just like if your healthy organ accepts a metastasis it becomes cancer, too. It's just a statement of fact. Cancer is of course a emotionally loaded term, but it's also a physical process. When you make cells immortal they also become cancerous. So immortality=cancer => GPL = immortality
It has multiple meanings, so what?
I can’t believe people carry water for an organization as souless as ms.