Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Thu, 5 Jul 2001 18:48:11 +0100
From:      j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org>
To:        Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>
Cc:        Dirk Myers <dirkm@teleport.com>, freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: BSD, .Net comments - any reponse to this reasoning?
Message-ID:  <20010705184811.A78227@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
In-Reply-To: <3B449C54.EC88E204@softweyr.com>; from wes@softweyr.com on Thu, Jul 05, 2001 at 10:56:52AM -0600
References:  <20010630174743.A85268@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010630173455.T344@teleport.com> <20010701032900.A93049@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010701132353.W344@teleport.com> <20010702152649.A18127@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <3B449C54.EC88E204@softweyr.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
| > So what you are saying, then, is that 'Free Software' in the FSF definition
| > is not just GPL'ed, but also has the copyright signed over to the FSF so
| > they can 'insure' that the code will remain forever GPL'ed?  If so, that is
| > damn scary.

| This is exactly what the GPL *and* the BSD license are, an unlimited license 
| to copy your work.  This doesn't infer any rights for others to copy any other
| works by you, including later revisions, but you can't go back and change
| the license terms on the version you sent out.

I thing my word choice obscured my intent:

The FSF holds the copyright to insure that the PROJECT will remain forever
GPL'ed.

This is what I actually meant, I think.  An author could release GPL'ed
code, then a year later, release a new version binary only with a non-GPL
license, or perhaps BSD licensed.  While the originally GPL'ed code would
remain such, the new code would not.  So, as I understand it, the goal of
the FSF is to make sure that the PROJECT continues to be GPL'ed, that no one
can change the license on the PROJECT from that day forward... except for
the FSF, of course.


Jonathon
--
Microsoft complaining about the source license used by 
Linux is like the event horizon calling the kettle black.

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20010705184811.A78227>