Re: How long is linux going to be free ?
%% adit y <adity24@yahoo.com> writes:
ay> 1. How long is it going to be free ?
The version you're using now will forever be available under its current
license and cannot be changed.
Versions yet to be released could have a different license _IF_ everyone
who has copyrights on it were to agree.
The chances of that happening are about the same as the proverbial
"thousand monkeys writing the complete works of Shakespeare", so don't
lose any sleep.
ay> 2. Is there any possibility of this becoming a copyrighted
ay> software in future ? ( i mean some company taking over and
ay> saying that only i am the owner and only i can make
ay> modifications)
You're confused here.
All code is _already_ copyright. Anything you write is automatically
copyrighted by you, unless you explicitly renounce it (then it becomes
public domain).
If that were all there was, then you _already_ wouldn't have any rights
to copy, modify, distribute, etc. the code.
The thing that gives you those rights is the GPL, which is a license,
not copyright.
As for whether future versions of Linux might come with a different
license than the GPL, see my answer to your question #1 above.
HTH!
ay> so any gpl derived software needs to be gpled but what about the
ay> other way, can you start including non gpled software ,closed
ay> sourced modules in gpled software.
No. There is no "direction" to copyright, where if you do it one way
you get this result but if you do another way you get a different
result.
Copyright applies to the total derived work, and the GPL licenses the
total derived work. This is commonly called the "viral nature" of the
GPL, generally by those who don't like it.
ay> looks like some flavors of linux are going that way.
Do not confuse the licensing of Linux with the licensing of the
applications which you might run on Linux.
Just like when you run Quicken on a Windows box the licenses between
Intuit and Microsoft don't interact, so the licensing of applications
that run on Linux, as long as they don't use any GPL'd code, don't
interact with the GPL.
You can run proprietary applications on Linux.
You just can't take Linux and make it into a proprietary application.
--
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Paul D. Smith <psmith@nortelnetworks.com> HASMAT--HA Software Mthds & Tools
"Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
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These are my opinions---Nortel Networks takes no responsibility for them.
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