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I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

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Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#111

Post by coldpie »

andyferris wrote: post #50
HideousKojima wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Americans are just very obstinate about those things. It's not just obstinance, switching everything to metric in the US would likely cost billions (if not trillions) of dollars. And other countries that have made the switch have often ended up with weird Frankensystems of measurement, like the UK where they mix metric and imperial all the time (plus the weird UK-specific measurements they have like "stone", which i…

Other countries switched. Short term pain for long term gain.

The trouble is there is just very little gain. It really just doesn't matter. All the systems are fine, they all work. If you come live here, you'll adjust after 2 years. If I moved to Europe, I would adjust in 2 years. Once in a blue moon you have to bother with converting units but c'est la vie. There's bigger things to worry about.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#112

Post by dharmab »

maccard wrote: post #52
int_19h wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't even remember the last time I've used a pen for anything other than writing a check.

I've never written a check in my life.

How do you pay for things above a few thousand dollars? I guess if you don't ever buy a pricey car or own a home you wouldn't need it.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#113

Post by sdf4j »

Symbiote wrote: post #62
rafaelm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because in our countries (I'm also from S.America) the reliability of the post office is questionable at best, so it wasn't something I ever really used.

In most/all of Europe, letter volumes are reducing but they're still used. Even where email is common, letters are usually possible. In your country, - how do you get a new bank card, when the current one expires? - how are you informed about a change like a price increase for electricity? - how do you pay for electricity? (Knowing how much to pay, when etc) What about an elderly person?

To answer your questions: receiving letters is easy, companies know how to do it. Sending letters is not common for the public.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#114

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

int_19h wrote: post #34
gwd wrote: post #14

> Writing the address on the envelope was awkward, as I haven’t used a pen in several years; it took a few attempts and some wasted envelopes... Wow -- I mean, sure, I don't use a pen that often, but I'm sure I hand-write something at least once a month...

I can't even remember the last time I've used a pen for anything other than writing a check.

Not even a whiteboard marker?

I'm in the US so I use permanent marker to write my lawyers phone number on my arm before protests

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#115

Post by therealpygon »

echoangle wrote: post #59
School-Cotton wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> seems confusing if so It is no more confusing to Americans than the fact that Europeans use A4 is to Europeans. Why should it be? Just like you didn’t know standards other than A4 exist, Americans don’t think about the fact that standards other than 8.5x11 inches (I.e. letter) exist. All printers, binders, folders, hole punchers, etc. are made with letter size paper in mind, and most people unless they are involved…

A4 isn’t some random format, you can derive it with three pieces of information: A0 is 1 square meter An to An+1 means cutting the paper along the middle of the longer edge Each An has the same aspect ratio Those are pretty useful properties and precisely define the dimensions of A4.

Not sure where you got “random format” from the comments, but we (U.S.) also use a very precise method for defining the size of paper, which is 8.5x11 and legal as 8.5x14. For the US, both are sized to fit in the same standard envelopes. I’ve never thought, “boy, I really need half this sheet length-wise but made shorter to keep the same aspect ratio for this situation”, so while I can understand why that could make sense when creating an international standard, it isn’t more or less random or more/less precise than any other basis. Our basis simply evolved naturally from our system of measurement and our needs with countries we traded most closely, rather than as an international standard based on a different system of measurement that needed to be shared among numerous countries situated closely together.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#116

Post by terinjokes »

bluGill wrote: post #30

At least he got a response. Meaning the address didn't change mostly. A few years back I worked on an embedded linux project. For our first "alpha" release one of the testers read through the license agreement (as opposed to scrolling past all that legalese like most people do) and found the address to write to to get all the GPL source, he then send a letter to the address and it was returned to sender, invalid addr…

Why should the test process be sending physical letters (edit: in 2025)? Nothing in the GPLv2 requires a physical letter.

The address the OP sent a letter too has already been removed from the canonical version of the license (and was itself an unversioned change from the original address), and section 3 doesn't require a physical offer if the machine-readable source code is provided.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#117

Post by palata »

NoboruWataya wrote: post #3

Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. Granted I don't send them very often but I wouldn't think much of it if I had to. But I guess younger people and particularly those in tech may genuinely never need a reason to send a letter (or, it seems, write an address by hand).

Agreed. I am a millennial, so most likely older than the author.

Not having envelopes at the ready is one thing, but ordering stamps... on eBay??? And then wasting a few envelopes because writing down the address is unusual? That kind of blew my mind.

I am a software engineer, and I always have a paper notebook and a pen next to my keyboard to write down stuff.

I guess this all tells me I'm getting old :-).

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#118

Post by coldpie »

maxloh wrote: post #103
coldpie wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps the FSF got confused about which license the author was referring to When no version is specified in the request, returning the latest version seems like a reasonable thing to do.

IMO, the correct response would be "Hey we have version 1, 2, and 3 of this license, all of them have been attached. Please make sure which one you were talking about".

That would also be reasonable, sure. Triple the cost though!

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#119

Post by loloquwowndueo »

remram wrote: post #86
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being unaware of paper sizes is baffling to me - where I live, letter and legal paper are common but I’m entirely aware of ISO216 paper sizes.

Odd take. It seems perfectly natural that the country using different sizes from everybody else would be aware of that fact, but that a country using the same size as 95% of the world might not know about the weirdo sizes used by those 5%.

Fair but if you’re going to diss, at least be aware it’s not just one country :) (I’ve never lived in the country you’re thinking of, and all the countries I’ve lived in use non-ISO216 paper sizes).

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#120

Post by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #18

This was written in 2022. Do people still know how to postal-mail things? Asking as the acquisition of envelope, paper and stamps read like a new adventure for the author. I make a practice of sending (picture) postcards to each of my descendants, when i arrive at a new place. It is a very rare occasion when I can find them, even rarer for the vendor to know what they are. Once the vendor was insisting that a flash c…

I know how to send mail but it's like doing taxes, I'm afraid I'll get something wrong and not find out until I'm in trouble for it

I'm probably younger than you by quite a bit.. no descendents, no time to travel, not allowed in many countries or US states anyway

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