LXer: Having offended everyone else in the world, Linus Torvalds calls own lawyers a 'nasty festering disease'

LXer · 08-27-2016, 12:50 AM

Published at LXer:

Time for a compendium of abuse. Coding curmudgeon Linus Torvalds has gone off on yet another rant: this time against his own lawyers and free software activist Bradley Kuhn.

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astrogeek · 08-27-2016, 01:36 AM

I think Linus is beginning to really understand the point of FREE software!

Quote:

On a mailing list about an upcoming Linux conference, a discussion about whether to include a session on the GPL that protects the open source operating system quickly devolved in an angry rant as its founder piled in.

"I actually think we *should* talk about GPL enforcement at the kernel summit, because I think it's an important issue," Torvalds gently began, "but we should talk about it the way we talk about other issues: among kernel developers. No lawyers present unless they are in the capacity of a developer and maintainer of actual code, and in particular, absolutely not the Software Freedom Conservancy."
...
As such, Torvalds suggested the conference session be titled: "Lawyers: poisonous to openness, poisonous to community, poisonous to projects."
...
"Let's just cut through all the bullshit," Torvalds continued. "The fact is, the people who have created open source and made it a success have been the developers doing work ... The people who have *destroyed* projects have been lawyers that claimed to be out to 'save' those projects."

"... Lawsuits destroy community. They destroy trust. They would destroy all the goodwill we've built up over the years by being nice."

I didn't find anything offensive in what Linus said, but I did see lots of truth!

Now if only he can realize what the poison is that enables all those offensive lawsuits and makes bringing them so profitable to the abusers... (hint: The absurd concept of "intellectual property" in law).