Re: NCSA's un-free browser - NOT

George Boyce (george@csteam.com)
Sat, 27 Aug 1994 04:14:27 +0200

I didn't mean to say they should give away the source code. I suggest
the free binary we get from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu should be one built from
the spyglass code, not from the original buggy code. In addition it
would be my wish that developers who are submitting code to improve
mosaic would be able to use the spyglass code, via license of course.

The way one might argue it is that if the government helped fund mosaic
development at ncsa.uiuc and ncsa.uiuc licensed the result to a
commercial firm which improved it, shouldn't follow-on government
funded development benifit from the commercial improvement? Why should
government funded work always start from scratch and play catchup?

In any case, I'm not an optimist. I don't expect anything. But it
doesn't hurt to suggest it...

George