Messages in this thread | | | From | Kyle Moffett <> | Subject | Re: GPL version, "at your option"? | Date | Wed, 17 Nov 2004 21:12:04 -0500 |
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On Nov 17, 2004, at 20:04, David Schwartz wrote: > Your logic is totally flawed. Successor versions can certainly add > limitations.
Your logic is equally flawed.
> Consider the following hypothetical, GPL version 3 allows you to > relicense > the code under the FreeBSD license. Someone relicenses Linux (with > lots of > later modification) under the FreeBSD license. Now people who receive > the > binaries from this new stream of Linux are not entitled to the source > code. s/relicense/distribute/g; You can't relicense code without owning the original copyright. You _can_ however, receive a license to distribute.
If I receive a binary from them, I receive the original "dual" license. This means that anyone who receives it may license it using GPL version "2" or, at their option, any later version. This means that when I get some binaries from some random company that used your mythical version 3 to distribute under the terms of any BSD license, I _also_ receive a license to the same code under the terms of GPL v2 (at my option :-D). This means that since my license from company X is GPL v2 (at my option), I must receive sources under GPL v2. In practice this means that you _can't_ change much of what the GPL says in future versions, at least as far as I can see, without causing said future version to be legally invalid.
> Suppose GPL version 3 has no requirement that you make the source > available. I can then ship Linux without making any source available > at all > by claiming that I'm using that later version at my option.
And I can equally legally demand the sources under GPL version 2, at my option, and you will be forced to give them to me, not at your option :-D.
Cheers, Kyle Moffett
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