Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S262674AbUKRBKL (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 20:10:11 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S262657AbUKRBJh (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 20:09:37 -0500 Received: from mail1.webmaster.com ([216.152.64.168]:56592 "EHLO mail1.webmaster.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S262673AbUKRBEh (ORCPT ); Wed, 17 Nov 2004 20:04:37 -0500 From: "David Schwartz" To: Cc: Subject: RE: GPL version, "at your option"? Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:04:28 -0800 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0) In-Reply-To: <1100614115.16127.16.camel@ghanima> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Importance: Normal X-Authenticated-Sender: joelkatz@webmaster.com X-Spam-Processed: mail1.webmaster.com, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 16:40:55 -0800 (not processed: message from trusted or authenticated source) X-MDRemoteIP: 206.171.168.138 X-Return-Path: davids@webmaster.com X-MDaemon-Deliver-To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Reply-To: davids@webmaster.com X-MDAV-Processed: mail1.webmaster.com, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 16:40:59 -0800 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1695 Lines: 38 > As the text says, the licensee can choose the GPL version at his option, > and he is likely to choose the one with better conditions. So, newer > version can never limit the licensee's right, because he is always free > to choose version 2. Therefore, successor versions can only remove > limitations. Your logic is totally flawed. Successor versions can certainly add limitations. Consider the following hypothetical, GPL version 3 allows you to relicense the code under the FreeBSD license. Someone relicenses Linux (with lots of later modification) under the FreeBSD license. Now people who receive the binaries from this new stream of Linux are not entitled to the source code. Not that this would ever happen, of course, but if your question is, "what possible harm could it do", the answer is that new limitations could be put in the newer licenses and newer code could be released with only the new license. When Linux opted to apply the GPL to early versions of Linux, he wasn't concerned only with protecting that code as it existed at that instant. He was creating the framework that shapes the future development of Linux into the future. The "at your option" clause could be used to transfer that contorl to the FSF. Suppose GPL version 3 has no requirement that you make the source available. I can then ship Linux without making any source available at all by claiming that I'm using that later version at my option. DS - 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/