Re: forbidding later version of GPL for xsoldier
On Sun, Jun 09, 2002 at 05:04:21AM -0600, John Galt wrote:
> >Unless you own the copyright the GPL does not give you permission to relicense.
> >Stating that you may only use the GPLv2 changes the current license and is just
> >as forbidden as deciding you want to re-release it as BSD licensed software.
>
> What part of "Each version is given a distinguishing version number.
> If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to
> it and "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and
> conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the
> Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version
> number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the
Um, he's saying that if a program says "you may use version 2 or later", you
can't change that to "you must use version 2", except in your own code,
since that's changing the license.
If I release a program with the intent that it be available under later
versions of the GPL, I certainly don't want people forking it and changing
my code's license to remove this permission. If that might introduce license
incompatibilities in the future, then preventing this becomes very
important. Nothing grants permission to remove this.
> Free Software Foundation." do you not understand? Or is it the part of
> "Each licensee is addressed as "you"." that you're misunderstanding? It's
I can't see any way in which he misunderstood anything. I'm guessing
you misunderstood his post.
> which is enumerated in clause 9. To be more exact, by using the GPL, the
> author ceded his right to determine the final form of the license to the
> FSF unless he used a specific version of the GPL, subject only to the
> promise of the FSF in clause 9 that they wouldn't change the spirit of
> the GPL.
Nobody is disputing this.
(Aside: this is only the case when the "or any later version" licensing is
used.)
--
Glenn Maynard
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