Re: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux
Jeff Epler (jepler@inetnebr.com)
Wed, 30 Dec 1998 10:05:30 -0600
On Wed, Dec 30, 1998 at 08:53:23AM +0000, Michael Shields wrote:
> The paragraph that reads:
>
> 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.
>
> which is the one that we are talking about, is not part of the GPL.
> You'll notice it is found in an *appendix* of the file `COPYING'. It
> is suggested text that you can use to apply the terms of the GPL to
> your code. You're free to modify it, or to use other text.
>
[...]
> Nothing stops you from saying:
>
> This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
> modify it under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public
> License as published by the Free Software Foundation.
I've re-read section 9 again, and this seems correct. You aren't locked
into the "upgrade path" unless you specify "... and any later version", or
fail to specify a version at all.
Does anyone have an historical copy of the GPL, version 1? The copyright
dates in the GPL V2 seem to indicate it was from '89, possibly before I'd
even fully fathomed the difference between "freeware" and "shareware".
Jeff
--
\/ http://incolor.inetnebr.com/jepler/ Jeff Epler jepler@inetnebr.com
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be
done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
-- E. Hubbard
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