Re: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux

Mike A. Harris (mharris@ican.net)
Tue, 29 Dec 1998 03:07:16 -0500 (EST)


On Sun, 27 Dec 1998, Zack Brown wrote:

>If Richard Stallman gets mad at the linux community for not using the term
>gnu/linux and decides to release a new version of the GPL that undoes its
>current meaning (and e.g. allows proprietary forking etc), thus affecting
>all programs currently licenced under the GPL, what could anyone do about
>that? And please don't say, "oh, he would *never* do something like that."
>
>Shake in your boots.
>
> This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
> it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
> the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
> (at your option) any later version.
>
> -- /usr/src/linux/COPYING, line 308-311

AFAIR that statement is recommended to append to your program's
source and/or display. If you say "This program is GPL version 2
period" I believe it is then GPL 2 period, regardless of wether a
3 comes out. Richard, do you care to clarify this?

Also, keep in mind that probably 90% (total random guess) of all
software out there that claims it is GPL, does not follow the
guidelines of the GPL properly, and display the proper messages,
etc. Many GPL programs don't include the COPYING document
either, which is also a requirement.

Sooner or later someone will end up in court. I guess within 2
years...

--
Mike A. Harris  -  Computer Consultant  -  Linux advocate

Linux software galore: http://freshmeat.net

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