[computer-go] Licenses are uselless

[Chrilly]

>
>
> I think there are two sides to the coin. Your position is that
> despite your best efforts, the bad guys will steal the code
> anyway. But the flip side is that if you *want* people to take and
> extend the software, you need a license so that the honest folk won't
> be afraid to do so.
>
> ie a license that tries to reduce a user's rights may not be
> enforcable, but you still need a license to grant people additional
> rights.
>
I think there is a Protestantic and a Catholic view*** the things. In the 
Protestantic view the police is in your own heart and you are also the 
police of the neighbour. In the catholic view you can do everything, but you 
have not to be so stupid that you are catched. The sin is more of being 
catched and not the action itself.  A popular Austrian proverb says; When 
you are old you regret only the sins you have not done. This is a somewhat 
simplified and exaggerated picture of these two ethics but it should make 
the difference clear.
So for a catholic like myself there is no point of a licencse or rule 
without a police or another authority.

One of the strangest things for a foreigner in the Netherlands is that the 
houses have no curtains (this is especially pronounced in the more 
fundamentalistic Protestantic areas). I called this "Aquarium" houses. The 
first thing I did when I rented a house was to install curtains. This was 
very suspiscious to the Dutch neighbours, people were knocking on the window 
when they went by on the street, one very curious neighbour asked me what I 
am doing. "Programming computer chess, "And for this you need a curtain", 
"No, but I feel uncomfortable without curtains". "But you have nothing to 
hide". "No". "But why do you need curtains, if you have nothing to 
hide"......   A typical clash of the cultures.

Chrilly

*** There are of course also other views like a Moslem, Buddhistic.... but 
in this forum the discussion is mainly among members of Christian cultures.