Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1757397AbXFMWHj (ORCPT ); Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:07:39 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1754893AbXFMWHW (ORCPT ); Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:07:22 -0400 Received: from smtp2.linux-foundation.org ([207.189.120.14]:46019 "EHLO smtp2.linux-foundation.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753323AbXFMWHU (ORCPT ); Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:07:20 -0400 Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:06:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Linus Torvalds To: Alan Cox cc: Alexandre Oliva , Greg KH , debian developer , "david@lang.hm" , Tarkan Erimer , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton , mingo@elte.hu Subject: Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3 In-Reply-To: <20070613225743.42b80aef@the-village.bc.nu> Message-ID: References: <466A3EC6.6030706@netone.net.tr> <18026.16739.228277.938421@notabene.brown> <20070609071231.GL2649@lug-owl.de> <466BB9B0.5030908@netone.net.tr> <466BCBBC.90305@netone.net.tr> <20070610160531.GA12179@kroah.com> <20070612184110.GB7980@kroah.com> <20070613225743.42b80aef@the-village.bc.nu> 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: 3183 Lines: 66 On Wed, 13 Jun 2007, Alan Cox wrote: > > > find offensive, so I don't choose to use it. It's offensive because Tivo > > never did anything wrong, and the FSF even acknowledged that. The fact > > Not all of us agree with this for the benefit of future legal > interpretation. Well, even the FSF lawyers did, but one of the reasons I never wanted to do the copyright assignments(*) is exactly because I think people need to make their own judgments on what the GPLv2 means. In the end, the only thing that really matters is what a judge says (after appeals etc), and the fact is, any license will always have gray areas where people disagree about interpretation. And I actually am of the very firm opinion that a world with gray areas (and purple, and pink, and green) is a hell of a lot better than one where everything is black-and-white. Only lawyers want a black-and-white world. So I would actually *encourage* other people to sue over their GPLv2 interpretations, as they have done in Germany (and as IBM has done in the US). I'd sue based on _my_ reading of it, but hey, while my opinion is obviously always correct, I recognize that I live in a world where not everybody else always sees that. [ (*) Obviously, the *biggest* reason not to do copyright assignments is that they are just a total pain in the ass to do, and cause tons of totally pointless paperwork. So "Linus is lazy and not interested in being a lawyer" is obviously the primary reason for the lack of assignments. I'm just much happier with people owning their own code outright. ] Of course, I also realize that suing people over license violations is a big pain in the ass, and in that sense while I "encourage" people to assert their own copyrights, I would obviously also say that it's almost certainly not worth doing if it's in a "gray" area. But that, in the end, has to be the copyright owners own decision! > > The GPLv2 is a *legal*license*. And no, the FSF doesn't get to define what > > the words mean to suit their agenda. > > Agreed - everyone contributed to the kernel based upon the GPLv2. Lots of > different reasons, lots of different viewpoints about GPL2 v GPL3, DRM , > Treacherous Computing, etc. The commonality is not political, not a > grand plan, not a grand unified social agenda but a bunch of people for > whom the GPLv2 was an acceptable license for furthering their intentions > whether that is education for all, a shared commons or just making a > quick buck Indeed. And it's _fine_ to even be in it "just to make a quick buck". We do want all kinds of input. I think the community is much healthier having lots of different reasons for people wanting to be involved, rather than concentrating on just some specific reason. For some it's the technology. For some it's the license. For some it's just a thing to pass boredom. Others like to learn. Whatever. It's all good! 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/