Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S964907AbWBCFfg (ORCPT ); Fri, 3 Feb 2006 00:35:36 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S964909AbWBCFfg (ORCPT ); Fri, 3 Feb 2006 00:35:36 -0500 Received: from mail1.webmaster.com ([216.152.64.168]:24074 "EHLO mail1.webmaster.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S964907AbWBCFff (ORCPT ); Fri, 3 Feb 2006 00:35:35 -0500 From: "David Schwartz" To: "Kyle Moffett" Cc: "Rene Herman" , "Linus Torvalds" , "Linux Kernel Mailing List" Subject: RE: GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 21:35:20 -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) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2670 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <200602022235.43898.ajwade@cpe001346162bf9-cm0011ae8cd564.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com> X-Authenticated-Sender: joelkatz@webmaster.com X-Spam-Processed: mail1.webmaster.com, Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:32:11 -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, Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:32:11 -0800 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1430 Lines: 32 > Well ok, but modified copies of it (that aren't the license) could be > made. For the sake of argument, imaging copying the preamble into > another file and adding a few paragraphs there, with a prominent notice of > your modifications. This is allowed by the GPL (the License is the same, > and you're not violating the other terms either as far as I can see). But > it is not allowed by the license for the text of the GPL. Hence the > problem. It's an odd squirrelly corner case of the sort that > cause licenses > to bloat up with verbiage. I totally don't understand why anyone thinks this is a problem. The GPL restricts copying and modification in various ways. One of them is that you can't modify the GPL itself. Another is that you can't remove license notices or disclaimers of liability. There is no problem and there is no conflict. The GPL is licensed under the GPL, it's self-licensing. The GPL specifies the terms of use for the works covered by it, including the GPL itself. The GPL is not GPL-incompatible because something can only be GPL-incompatible if it contains restrictions not found in the GPL. It is logically impossible for the GPL to do so. 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/