Re: GPL v3?

[Joe Hart <j.hart@orange.nl>]

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John Hasler wrote:
> Joe writes:
>> Mainly the difference is that v3 has clauses to prevent people from
>> restricting users what they can do with things that the software makes,
>> such as putting DRM in media.
> 
> It also attempts to limit enforcement of their patents.  It is so complex
> as to be very difficult to understand.  It will be completely
> incomprehensible to those who struggle with GPLv2.
> 
>> I am not exactly sure how these companies justify doing what they do
>> with code that is under the GPL, but they do it none the less.  AFAIK,
>> they add functionality to the code then refuse to release the source
>> code...
> 
> If you know of such instances contact the copyright owners so that they can
> take appropriate action.
> 
>> I will not metion names because I don't want to get slapped with a law
>> suit.
> 
> So you are not sure of your facts.

Oh, I am quite sure.  I will point out one, just so you can see what I mean.

http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/Freespire_End_User_License_Agreement

Now, granted, they cannot enforce this for more than 3/4 of the
software, but that is not clear from the text.  Someone coming from the
Windows world would think it very similiar to Windows' license, so they
wouldn't realize how against the GPL it is.

I don't think Linspire can sue me for saying that I find their license
very restrictive.  Note that Freespire and Linspire have the same
License Agreement.

I will have you know that I sent messages to Patrick Green, who is the
head of the Freespire community, but he failed to respond to my query
about the license.  I doubt very seriously if Kevin Carmony would
either.  I specifically asked how a developer is supposed to help with
their system when they only are allowed to use the object code, and if
there was a different license for developers.

This of course is quite off-topic to this list, but I don't take kindly
to people telling me that I don't know what I am talking about.

There are other examples, but this one is clear enough.

Joe

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