Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1755237AbXFNXgi (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:36:38 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1753289AbXFNXgS (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:36:18 -0400 Received: from smtp.ocgnet.org ([64.20.243.3]:52321 "EHLO smtp.ocgnet.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752524AbXFNXgQ (ORCPT ); Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:36:16 -0400 Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:34:49 +0900 From: Paul Mundt To: Alexandre Oliva Cc: Daniel Hazelton , Linus Torvalds , Lennart Sorensen , 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 Message-ID: <20070614233449.GA27490@linux-sh.org> Mail-Followup-To: Paul Mundt , Alexandre Oliva , Daniel Hazelton , Linus Torvalds , Lennart Sorensen , Greg KH , debian developer , "david@lang.hm" , Tarkan Erimer , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Andrew Morton , mingo@elte.hu References: <200706132042.02728.dhazelton@enter.net> <200706132347.42371.dhazelton@enter.net> <20070614073232.GB22543@linux-sh.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.13 (2006-08-11) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2791 Lines: 51 On Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 01:57:26PM -0300, Alexandre Oliva wrote: > On Jun 14, 2007, Paul Mundt wrote: > > I don't see how you can claim that the vendor is infringing on your > > freedom, _you_ made the decision to go out and buy the product knowing > > that the vendor wasn't going to go out of their way to help you hack > > the device. > > But I also made this decision fully aware that the software included > in the package was published under a license that said I was entitled > to modify it. And you certainly are free to do so. The vendor ships the product with the binaries, and you get the source as a result. You can in turn modify that source and do whatever you like with it. If the vendor is more proactive, they may have even tried to get all of their changes merged by the time the product hit the market, so they wouldn't be sitting on anything "special" anyways. This however has nothing to do with your ability to apply those changes to the _hardware_. If the vendor doesn't want to, or is unable to support third-party modifications on their product, they have the basic right to make that decision, as you have the basic right not to buy the product if this is something that's going to be a problem for you. > More than once I purchased a device that claimed to have GNU/Linux > software on it, only to find out that I couldn't use the freedoms, > because the distributor was infringing the license in various ways. > In this example, at _no time_ did the vendor infringe on the license. They haven't given you an easy way to change the hardware, but they're completely compliant both in terms of the letter and the spirit (depending on how they work with the community) of the license. If you're trying to pretend that GPLv2 had _anything_ to say about hardware, you'd be wrong. In such a situation, there'd hardly be a "need" (as you seem to see it) for GPLv3 at all. If you think this bizarre coupling of the hardware/software paradigm is in any way constructive, you're of course welcome to use the GPLv3, but this does not retroactively change the terms of the GPLv2 simply because you saw this as an area that was apparently "lacking". And on the other hand, you're more than welcome to dual-license all of your kernel changes under v2/v3 if you really feel that that's the best way to go, just as I'm welcome to print out and burn the GPLv3 as a symbolic gesture. Simply because some folks have no intention of ever supporting v3 doesn't stop you from using it on any of your own changes. - 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/