xgettext (Re: replication of stuff in /usr/gnu)

[Joerg Schilling]

Darren.Reed at Sun.COM wrote:

> In the non-GPL open source communities that I watch, there is
> very real fear about what you're wary of (infection of others
> through use/linking) but nobody yet has a solid legal opinion.

I believe that we should not only look at the "infection" problem.

If we have an implementation for a program in Solaris, we should not
simply drop it because there are other implementations for this
program that look better.

-	If the other implementation is less free (e.g. is not based on the
	BSD license, the CDDL or something similar), we should keep the 
	"Solaris own" implementation.

-	If the other implementaion does not give substantially more features
	but creates a bigger binary, we should also consider to keep
	the old source.

If we like to attract people to use Solaris for embedded systems, we need
to keep a set of "free enough for embedded" programs and we should keep
programs that are smaller but may be still sufficient for the embedded
market.

In any case, "xgettext" is not a program covered by POSIX, so this does not
necessarily apply to "xgettext".

Another note from me: On a well maintained Operating system, not only the
kernel is an object of high interest.... the userland programs also need
regular care. If userland programs get the care they need on a regular base,
there is no need to replace them by other people's implementations.

Do you wait until your house collapes and then replace it or do you keep
it in good condition?

Jörg

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