How not to handle a licensing violation

How not to handle a licensing violation

Posted Apr 11, 2007 22:44 UTC (Wed) by ajross (guest, #4563)
In reply to: How not to handle a licensing violation by dmarti
Parent article: How not to handle a licensing violation

Absolutely not. The purpose behind the limited disclosure rules for security vulnerabilities is to limit exposure of public systems until a solution is found. It's a public safety concern.

This whole brouhaha, as far as I can tell, is about hurt feelings, decorum, and email etiquette. In what possible way can that be considered morally or practically equivalent? Remember that the real issue here was a copyright and license violation, and that issue was resolved successfully and quickly. Your suggestion is just a band-aid for avoiding the resulting flame war.

Developers are, as a rule, socially insensitive jerks and flame wars happen all the time. Why does this one deserve special treatment? My guess is that it's because one of the biggest bomb throwers was the leader of a high profile project, and as a result lots of high profile people were embarrassed. I'm sorry, but "don't embarrass important people" seems like a pretty obscure and special case requirement for a development process.

And, by way of full disclosure: these flame wars aren't exactly without value. I'll come right out and admit that this was one of the most entertaining I've read in years. It's right up there with Tannenbaum vs. Torvalds, or Tridgell vs. McVoy in my book. I mean, let's just admit it: this kind of train wreck can make for a pretty great afternoon's reading for those of us not directly involved.

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How not to handle a licensing violation

Posted Apr 12, 2007 0:05 UTC (Thu) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link]

People who want to jump into flame wars can easily find them.

Ability and willingness to participate in unnecessary flame wars shouldn't be a prerequisite for participating in a project, though. Raise the standard of discourse, and you make a project attractive to people who aren't "socially insensitive jerks", bring in useful contributors who won't bother with flame-infested projects, and you win.

How not to handle a licensing violation

Posted Apr 12, 2007 8:59 UTC (Thu) by sdalley (subscriber, #18550) [Link] (2 responses)

Am I permitted to wonder whether "socially insensitive jerk" attitudes like this are one big reason why there are so few women in FOSS ??

How not to handle a licensing violation

Posted Apr 12, 2007 9:59 UTC (Thu) by aigarius (subscriber, #7329) [Link] (1 responses)

Oh, please. Women can be just as insensitive as men if they try :)

How not to handle a licensing violation

Posted Apr 12, 2007 21:41 UTC (Thu) by amikins (guest, #451) [Link]

Or if they don't try. Being, you know, insensitive and all. Sensitivity requires effort. :D
<-- Insensitive