Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S262375AbUKQQ37 (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:29:59 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S262370AbUKQQ36 (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:29:58 -0500 Received: from fw.osdl.org ([65.172.181.6]:52117 "EHLO mail.osdl.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S262369AbUKQQ2q (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:28:46 -0500 Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:28:36 -0800 (PST) From: Linus Torvalds To: Alan Cox cc: Tim Schmielau , Fruhwirth Clemens , Linux Kernel Mailing List , James Morris Subject: Re: GPL version, "at your option"? In-Reply-To: <1100704183.32677.28.camel@localhost.localdomain> Message-ID: References: <1100614115.16127.16.camel@ghanima> <1100704183.32677.28.camel@localhost.localdomain> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1775 Lines: 42 On Wed, 17 Nov 2004, Alan Cox wrote: > > All the code I submitted I've submitted under the GPL, the real GPL not > the Linus one. Sorry, but the "or any later version" is not even _part_ of the GPL, much less a "real one". It's part of the _suggested_ _header_ of a file, not the license. Look at it yourself: it comes clearly after the "END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS", and it's in the "How to apply these terms to your new program". In other words, if you didn't have that "v2 or later" in your original patches, they were _always_ just the regular GPLv2. That said, when I clarified (and I do want to make clear that the header on the COPYING file is a _clarification_, not a change of license) it, I told people that if they disagreed with me, they should send in patches saying "v2 or later" to their own code. Just because there may have been confused people (like you) who thought that the "later version" thing was part of the license. It's not. It has never been. The actual _license_ part is very clear: If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. Note the "IF". Linux _never_ had the "v2 or later" clause, so that "if" was never an issue, and the clarification on top of the COPYING file really _is_ just a clarification. Alan, you need to learn to read, and not make assumptions. Linus - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/