[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: GPL v3 Draft 3- text and comments



On Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:17:42 +0100 Gervase Markham wrote:

> Francesco Poli wrote:
[...]
> > I cannot depict a specific scenario off the top of my head, but my
> > alarm bell rang as soon as I saw the word "preservation" coupled
> > with undefined (and hence vague) terms as "reasonable legal notice"
> > and "author attribution".
> 
> "Undefined in the license" != "vague".

You're right, but, in the present case, I felt that those terms could be
intepreted in a broader sense than intended.

> There are lots of English words
> the license uses which it does not explicitly define, and yet we seem
> to  manage to understand it pretty well. An author attribution is text
> which  tells you the name of an author. A reasonable legal notice is
> any notice  of relevance to and on the topic of the legal situation
> surrounding the  product.
> 
> I really can't see any GFDL-like "insert GNU Manifesto here" problems 
> with this.

I'm afraid that some extra care should be taken to avoid such
problems...

> 
> > Since the clause does not seem to be designed as sufficiently narrow
> > to avoid posing nasty problems in the future, I assumed the worst
> > case scenario and concluded that the clause will bite.  That was my
> > line of reasoning.
> 
> How would you rephrase it?

That's a hard one...
I will try and find the time to draft something (mmmmh... I'm saying so
too often lately!).

[...]
> >> This clause is a permission to link; 
> >> therefore, as I read it, the GPLv3 copyleft weakens to an
> >> "LGPL"-style copyleft in the case of linking with the Affero GPL.
> >> Each bit of code remains under its own license.
> > 
> > Yes, and I dislike it: it sounds as (and probably actually is...) an
> > endorsement of the AfferoGPL v2 by the FSF.
> 
> Yes, it is. If you never use the Affero GPL, is it really a big deal?

Well, *when* I want a copyleft, I want one that *actually works*...
Exemptions for specific incompatible licenses should be left out of the
license text (so that who wants them can add them as additional
permissions). 
*When* I choose the GNU GPL, I want to prevent my code from being linked
with proprietary code (including AfferoGPL'd code).
I'm simplifying things to a great extent here, but I think what I mean
is clear enough...

-- 
 http://frx.netsons.org/doc/nanodocs/etch_workstation_install.html
 Need to read a Debian etch installation walk-through?
..................................................... Francesco Poli .
 GnuPG key fpr == C979 F34B 27CE 5CD8 DC12  31B5 78F4 279B DD6D FCF4

Attachment: pgpi1ahKH_Gtn.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Reply to: