iterator.net

I love .NET Reflector. It’s an indispensable programming tool.

Unfortunately it has one big flaw: it’s auto update feature is not optional.

I regularly work disconnected, either because I’m not near a hotspot or because I’m running a VM without internet access.

If Reflector determines that it is out-of-date it will refuse to run until you update it. This is a huge pain because I usually don’t hit the problem unless I need to use Reflector.

Yes, I know complaining about free software is lame, but please Lutz, make the update functionality optional. I promise I’ll update the next time I’m connected.

Update: Red Gate has acquired .NET Reflector. Please visit my forum post and share your opinion!

Snippet from Wikipedia’s article on ZFS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettabyte_File_System):

Porting ZFS to Linux is complicated by the fact that the GNU General Public License, which governs the Linux kernel, prohibits linking with code under certain licenses, such as CDDL, the license ZFS is released under.[21]

I can’t understand why people still use the GPL, or even bother to incorporate GPL-licensed code. I don’t know a single developer who likes the GPL or would ever release code licensed under it.

Even Linus Torvalds seems to be wary of the aggressive nature of the GPL:

NOTE! This copyright does *not* cover user programs that use kernel services by normal system calls - this is merely considered normal use of the kernel, and does *not* fall under the heading of "derived work". Also note that the GPL below is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, but the instance of code that it refers to (the linux kernel) is copyrighted by me and others who actually wrote it. Linus Torvalds

(snipped from the Linux Kernel license file)

I wonder what percentage of people who license their code under the GPL understand the restrictions they are imposing on other developers, or if they just choose the GPL because it’s a well known name and no one wants to take the time to read and compare a few different software licenses. Personally I prefer the (new) BSD license. It’s short and sweet and doesn’t attempt to masquerade a social agenda as freedom.