[Fsf-friends] Simputer on BBC : Missing the point

[Alexandre Dulaunoy]

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 doxa@sancharnet.in wrote:

> >   1. * Simputer for poor goes on sale *  (Frederick Noronha (FN))
> >A cheap handheld computer created by Indian scientists is launched
> >after a delay of nearly three years.
>
> Fred,
> I think  BBC missed the point  here. The Simputer happens  to be the
> >first   hardware  experiment  on   GPL  using   the  FSF   mode  of
> >development.

Except that  the license for  the Simputer is non-free[3].  You cannot
make commercial use of the hardware :

"Any commercial  exploitation of the  Specifications (whether Simputer
or Simputerized) involves a nominal one time payment to the Trust. The
payment  will be  $25,000 for  developing countries  and  $250,000 for
developed countries."

Ok, it's  better than  nothing but  I would be  happy if  the simputer
Trust will  move to an  opencores[1] style of licensing[2]  and become
really free.

[1] http://www.opencores.org/
[2] http://www.opencores.org/faq.cgi/section/4/4.1#4.1
[3] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

"A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus,
you  should be  free to  redistribute copies,  either with  or without
modifications, either  gratis or charging  a fee for  distribution, to
anyone  anywhere. Being  free to  do these  things means  (among other
things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission. "


-- 
** Alexandre Dulaunoy (adulau) **** http://www.foo.be/ **** 0x44E6CBCD
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