[TriLUG] GPLv3 -- What do you think?

[Shane O'Donnell]

There's also the issue of enforcement.  For argument's sake, say that
the kernel does go to GPLv3 (or even stays at v2--doesn't matter for
this argument).

Since the GPL is enforceable under copyright law, the only people with
grounds to bring an infringement claim are the holders of the
copyrights--and the courts require ALL OF THEM.

Now the dead guys seem to factor in a little bit more...

Note:  This is NOT how German courts handle it, as they require ANY
ONE copyright holder (which in turn allowed Harald Welte to bring
cases against Linksys, et al).

As always, IANAL (and IANAGL (G for German))...

Shane O.

On 3/16/06, Rick DeNatale <rick.denatale at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/16/06, Nathan Conrad <conrad at bungled.net> wrote:
> > I think that you missed the /COPYING file in the kernel source:
> ..
> > To me, it seems quite clear that the ENTIRE Linux source is to be
> > distributed with the GPL v2 license. It isn't necessary for one to put
> > the statement in every source file, is it?
>
> The problem is that most of the individual files have copyright
> statements by different authors.  No one, including Linus has
> copyright to the entire kernel source code.
>
> What I see is a file called COPYING which has a preamble and a copy of
> GPL V2, which raises the question if it meets the FSF requirement for
> an unaltered copy of the license.
>
> But just throwing in a copy of the GPL in a bucket with a bunch of
> code with different copyrights and license statements doesn't really
> constitute licensing the whole bucket under the GPL. Each individual
> copyright holder needs to license the parts (s)he holds copyright to.
>
> Here's what the GPL itself says about HOW to license SW under the GPL,
> I've added some emphasis in the second paragraph.
>
>            How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
>
>    If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
>    possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
>    free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these
>    terms.
>
>    To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
>    to attach them to the start of EACH SOURCE FILE to most effectively
>    convey the exclusion of warranty; and EACH FILE SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST
>     THE "COPYRIGHT" LINE AND A POINTER TO  WHERE THE FULL NOTICE IS
>     FOUND.
>
>     <one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
>     Copyright (C) <year>  <name of author>
>
>     This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
>      it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
>      the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
>      (at your option) any later version.
>
>      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
>      but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
>      MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
>      GNU General Public License for more details.
>
>      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
>      along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
>      Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA
>       02111-1307  USA
>
>      Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper
>      mail.
>
> My random sampling of the sources indicates that not very many files
> follow the letter of the GPL to the full extent. Some only have the
> copyright and pointer to the GPL, and some have neither.
>
> As Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-in "Veeery Interesting!"
>
> --
> Rick DeNatale
>
> Visit the Project Mercury Wiki Site
> http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/
> --
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--
Shane O.
========
Shane O'Donnell
shaneodonnell at gmail.com
====================