![]() ![]() I think the scenario of a fork is more a dream of Marco d’Itri than reality. But beside all the noise we shouldn’t forget that beside the Linux-Hacker a wide range of Free Software hackers and even Free Software companies seems to be happy with the progress of GPLv3. That would be a very sorry day for everyone who loves software freedom. >It’s possible that d’Itri has got it all upside down but it’s nevertheless a fact that if they want to, the Linux kernel developers and OSI can do great damage to the cause of Free Software. Personally, I couldn’t care less of the licence, since I don’t need one for boycotting DRM’d content. An happy developer is a productive developer. Still, it would be a minor inconvenience, next to dealing with something they disapprove. It would have been problematic to contact every copyright owner, had they been favourable with the revision. Since Linus and many core developers are not satisfied by the GPLv3, they’ve only made a wise decision by removing the “later” part. An extreme example (with a legal impossibility, I might add), but it clearly shows the implications of using a “later” clause. After recovering from his injuries, he decides to add a clause in GPLv8, stating something in the lines of: the ownership of the Program covered by this licence is given to the FSF, then begin to use programs released with the “later” clause… Hey, I have no doubt on the good intentions of the FSF, but I’m sure many developers wouldn’t be happy. Let’s pretend that RMS’ head got trampled by an herd of gnus. Thus, they cannot know if they are going to agree with a later version of a licence. However, nobody cannot predict the future, including the copyright owner(s) using the licence. With the “v2 or later” clause, the user can choose the licence among a subset. I believe he was rather against relinquishing his control over the licence to an external entity… Think about it. Linus has been against v3 for years (before there was a v3) A really quick survey of the code does show up some driver files have the “v2 or later” clause, but not core files. Unless mistaken, it has been like that way for a while. Strange that Linus can go in and change “v2 or later” into what he wants it to say without asking anyone or getting anyones permission.
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