Posted by: Benjamin Mako Hill
on January 29, 2006 11:26 AM
If you have not read what Linus has said...
Then you bettter look and see.
I hvae read the message your quoting (it was on NF recently) and it is hardly news. Linus removed the "or any later version" from the kernel some time ago and has been quite worried about the GPLv3 for a long time before anyone had any idea what would be in it. At this point, Linus' problems seem to be largely with the anti-DRM bits. These issues might get resolved which may change Linus' mind -- or it might not.
I don't think it really matters. The Linux kernel is very visible but it's easy to overemphasize it's importance or the importance of its license. The important thing to note is that the large majority of all free software under any license is under the GPL. It is something we have in common as a community which is why it is something we need to deal with.
What Linus did a long time ago, and then reminded us of this week, was take himself and the kernel out of the GPLv3 debate. Nothing in the kernel is really at stake. If the license is to his satisfaction, he'll probably use it. If it isn't, nothing changes. This doesn't help any of the difficult problems that we as a community need to sort out but it doesn't really make anything more difficult either.
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Re:When Linus says no to the GPL v3, it means NO.
Posted by: Benjamin Mako Hill on January 29, 2006 11:26 AMIf you have not read what Linus has said...
Then you bettter look and see.
I hvae read the message your quoting (it was on NF recently) and it is hardly news. Linus removed the "or any later version" from the kernel some time ago and has been quite worried about the GPLv3 for a long time before anyone had any idea what would be in it. At this point, Linus' problems seem to be largely with the anti-DRM bits. These issues might get resolved which may change Linus' mind -- or it might not.
I don't think it really matters. The Linux kernel is very visible but it's easy to overemphasize it's importance or the importance of its license. The important thing to note is that the large majority of all free software under any license is under the GPL. It is something we have in common as a community which is why it is something we need to deal with.
What Linus did a long time ago, and then reminded us of this week, was take himself and the kernel out of the GPLv3 debate. Nothing in the kernel is really at stake. If the license is to his satisfaction, he'll probably use it. If it isn't, nothing changes. This doesn't help any of the difficult problems that we as a community need to sort out but it doesn't really make anything more difficult either.
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