Re: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux
Jon Hamilton (hamilton@pobox.com)
Sat, 19 Dec 1998 17:56:25 -0600
In message <Pine.LNX.4.05.9812192256470.14192-100000@vitelus.com>, Aaron Lehman
n wrote:
} >From http://www.zdnet.com/sr/stories/news/0,4538,2177559,00.html:
}
} "With a general public license, there are some exposures with liability
} and how open are the patents if you modify the code. The best way to solve
} this is by cleaning up the license."
}
} **shudder**
}
} It is unclear to me whether they are suggesting that GNU change the
} GPL in their favor, or want Linux to swich to another license. I hope they
} understand that GPL'd code cannot be switched to a different license.
It is probably true that as a practical matter, Linux can't be switched
to a different license, but your claim isn't true in general. The owner
of the code can release it under any license they please, whether it's
compatible with other licenses they've used in the past or not. The license
restricts _users_ and _redistributors_, not owners.
--
Jon Hamilton
hamilton@pobox.com
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