Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751324AbWI2Skp (ORCPT ); Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:40:45 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1751331AbWI2Sko (ORCPT ); Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:40:44 -0400 Received: from smtp.osdl.org ([65.172.181.4]:61317 "EHLO smtp.osdl.org") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751324AbWI2Skn (ORCPT ); Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:40:43 -0400 Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:40:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Linus Torvalds To: Alan Cox cc: Helge Hafting , tglx@linutronix.de, Neil Brown , Michiel de Boer , James Bottomley , linux-kernel Subject: Re: GPLv3 Position Statement In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <1158941750.3445.31.camel@mulgrave.il.steeleye.com> <451798FA.8000004@rebelhomicide.demon.nl> <17687.46268.156413.352299@cse.unsw.edu.au> <1159183895.11049.56.camel@localhost.localdomain> <1159200620.9326.447.camel@localhost.localdomain> <451CF22D.4030405@aitel.hist.no> <1159552021.13029.58.camel@localhost.localdomain> <1159554375.13029.67.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: 1880 Lines: 40 On Fri, 29 Sep 2006, Linus Torvalds wrote: > > I think you can push that angle, and a lot of the time it will work in > practice - because the companies involved are really not "evil", and most > often they simply want to avoid any trouble. Btw, I'd also like to say that not only am I not a lawyer, I also think that it's perfectly fine for people to disagree with me and decide to sue somebody they really really dislike. I'm not giving legal advice, and am just stating my own standpoint. I think people (especially in the US) tend to be way too lawsuit-happy anyway, but I'm in no way trying to discourage people who feel they want to assert rights that I personally don't think _I_ have. People differ in their opinions of the rights they hold. That's ok. The way things _really_ get decided is not on the kernel mailing list, or even by asking a lawyer, but by people who decided that some company or other just simply crossed the line and did something illegal. My opinion simply doesn't _matter_ in that sense. For example, when I say that I think it would be totally insane to think that a 128-bit hash of a binary is a "derived work", I say that as a concerned citizen. I think a world where real lawyers would say that would be a _horrible_ world. And I don't think it makes sense. But sadly, until I'm elected(*) life-time President and King of the World, what I think doesn't actually change anything. Linus (*) Hah. Who do I think I'm kidding? The revolution will be bloody and brutal, and you're not going to get the choice to "elect" me except in the history books written by yours truly. - 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/