Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2002 11:51:05 +1000 From: Ian Pulsford <ianjp@optusnet.com.au> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Abuses of the BSD license? Message-ID: <3CAFA609.32DD89E4@optusnet.com.au> References: <200204051922.06556@silver.dt1.binity.net> <3CAE7037.801FB15F@optusnet.com.au> <3CAEA028.186ED53E@optusnet.com.au> <3CAED90B.F4B7905@mindspring.com> <3CAEFFAA.91525BB3@optusnet.com.au> <3CAF74A9.135485DA@mindspring.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Terry Lambert wrote: > > Ian Pulsford wrote: > > Relicensing is illegal without the creator or owner or licence's > > "license". The owner has copyright and gives license for others to > > distribute or copy or whatever. The way I understood Stallman's idea of > > a "compatible licence" was one that didn't interfere (via restrictions) > > with a piece of source code being linked or otherwise compiled with > > GPLed stuff. > > And thereby triggering the "must be GPL'ed" requirement of > the license, without failing to meet the "no additional > restrictions" requirement of the GPL. It has to do with him > believing you can GPL the code. But surely, strictly speaking, you can't? Adding a license is not one a right you get automatically when you get a piece of code. Actually I reread the GPL carefully a little while ago and I am not convinced that you need to give everything distributed with GPLed software a GPL. I think this is a misunderstanding that has gotten out of control. In section 2 of the GPL: "These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it." This doesn't say you have to give separate works the GPL license only that you have to distribute it under the same terms while it is part of a GPLed package. Ian To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?3CAFA609.32DD89E4>