Hi,
chrysn schrieb:
A small point: All free software licences are non-viral. Software will never turn into GPL'd software just by touching software that is under the GPL. The GPL is a copyleft or "reciprocal" licence.
i kind of expected such a rebuke, but as of starting to grow a microbiology background, i like the term and think it is quite descriptive (and not every viral infection is transmitted by touching, but when incorporating infected flesh into your body, you are likely to be infected as well).
Well, "viral" is another expression for "spreading illness". This term only fits proprietary licenses which really infect the whole system built upon, making it non-free. The GPL (and other copleft licenses) can be described much better as "immunizing" against the illness of proprietary licenses. These terms were found by Bernhard Reiter, as far as I know.
Best wishes Michael