Why Can't Musicians Be More Like Linux Guys?

First off, let me explain a little bit of what I know about Linux guys, and what it is about their attitude that would be really good for musicians.

Actually, I, myself, don't have to explain it at all. I just now checked my reference for what I was thinking of: "GNU - General Public Licence". The page pretty much explains it all.
However, in a nutshell, what they do is copyright all their stuff so no-one else can, and then they give it away. They call this "copylefting". They also make a special point of making it easy for other programmers who want to change the product.

The only difference between what those guys are doing, and what I want, is they are all about software, whereas I am all about music.

I very much want there to be a similar "General Public Licence" for music. I want it very, very badly.

That piece of paper there that I scibbled on explains why. I'm a dumb-ass construction grunt with no f***ing education and nothing but a computer and a guitar. (And my loving wife, of course. I love you, Cindy!) And, yet I am able to make music well enough that at least I myself am able to enjoy just putting it media player and listening to it, just as if I'd bought it from some famous spoiled prick, like how I usually get music.

In other words, the "x = somewhat ok music" like it says on my chart.

Now I'm doing what I do, about the music thing, purely because I want to HEAR THE MUSIC . That's it. No other reason. I would never care to try to be a rock star or anything like that. I could never stand all the goddam cameras in my face all the time, and plus, like that would ever happen now anyway. It isn't about that.

It isn't about stamping my name all over the music either. Perhaps some of you have heard of a Canadian rock band known as Rush. The reason I bring them up is because one of their guys summed up what I'm currently talking about perfectly. No surprise. That's his job, words. He writes them all (or mostly) and that's what he was talking about at the time.

Now, I don't still have the DVD with that little gem on it, so I gonna have to just paraphrase from memory. The drift was: "I don't mind it at all after I turn my work in to my bandmates, the fact that they may suggest some changes. I don't get hung up on ego, and they don't either. If anything, I HOPE they suggest changes. Then, it will be EVEN BETTER!"

Again, not his exact words, and I apologize to Mr. Neil Peart if I'm far off the mark. I don't believe I am though.

The point I'm making is, I feel the same way about THE ENTIRE WORLD MUSIC COMMUNITY as Neil Peart feels about bandmates. "Hey, EVERYONE. Here's some music! Take it, and make it BETTER!"

I don't care if my name is still on a song when it gets to be good. I truly, don't. I just want to HEAR IT!

So, that's the whole point of this article. I'm wondering if there are others out there with similar capabilities as myself, who also feel that way. I bet there are. So, I think we should create a "GPL for Music", copyleft all our music from raw recordings on up, and make it all available to each other by ftp. Just the way Linux guys do with source code.

I believe some wonderful music would then result.