Torvalds rules out GPL3 for Linux

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...use Linux for whatever you want to — which very much includes things I don't necessarily personally approve of."

Torvalds founded the Linux project in 1991, the same year GPL version two was released, and is still its leader. His kernel project dovetailed with work Stallman had already began to create a free clone of Unix, called GNU. Because of that combination, the Free Software Foundation prefers the entire operating system be called GNU/Linux — though it has other important components, such as the Xorg graphics system, that come from other groups.

In a 2004 interview, Torvalds indicated he wants the GPL to serve nothing beyond the single function of keeping source code open.

"I really want a licence to do just two things: Make the code available to others, and make sure that improvements stay that way. That's really it. Nothing more, nothing less. Everything else is fluff."

Because of that cautious stance, Torvalds specifically didn't follow with Linux the Free Software Foundation's recommendation to describe a software project as governed by version two or "any later version".

The issue of moving to GPL 3 is grounded in copyrights. Many open source projects, such as MySQL or OpenSolaris, require that programmers turn over copyrights to a central organisation. That organisation then grants the programmers a licence of their own to the software source code in question. But with Linux, the copyrights are held by a large number of individuals and companies that contributed the code.

To convert Linux to GPL 3, it is likely that more than just Torvalds' approval would be required. For example, when the SpamAssassin project converted to the Apache License so it could become part of the Apache Software Foundation, project organisers spent months getting explicit permission for the change from about 100 copyright holders. Even then, not all contributors could be found, and some software had to be rewritten.

The Free Software Foundation also has lodged objections about Torvalds. In an interview after the GPL 3 draft was released, Moglen said Torvalds doesn't use a "pure GPL" and that practices such as permitting proprietary video drivers could be argued to violate the licence.

Missing out
Keeping Linux with GPL 2 means the project won't be able to take advantage of some changes. And some experts believe GPL 3 is better.

"I think it's a definite improvement. It clarifies where there is ambiguity and deals with issues that have come up over time," said Mark Radcliffe, an intellectual-property attorney with DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary who represents the Open Source Initiative and who is overseeing some gathering of commentary for the GPL 3.

Regarding rights management, Radcliffe said Stallman "views DRM as potentially evil. He wants to make it very clear that DRM is not permitted, and you cannot implement DRM systems using GPL [3] code."

But Radcliffe also believes those fears could be overstated, judging by the commercial failures of attempts to control software in the past — such as with hardware "dongles" that must be attached to a computer before a particular program will run. "The practical risk of it being applied to software is lower than it being applied to content," he said.

Talkback

While I admire what Richard Stallman is trying to accomplish, as I've said elsewhere in comments to the GPL3, I think the DRM clause is flawed and in the wrong place for such a campaign.

Yes, DRM is evil and wrong in general, or at least in the way the entertainment industry uses it.

But you aren't going to get the Music and Film industries to treat their customers with respect and not as prospective criminals over night.

This means that anyone using software which conforms to the GPL3 license would be unable to watch any modern films (DVD HD and BD) or copy-protected music.

To RS: Yes, the DRMing of music and film as it is at the moment is wrong - mainly because it only makes life difficult for the legal purchaser, the dedicated copier will still find a copy somewhere which is DRM free. But using the GPL3 as a soapbox to fight against it isn't the right thing to do.

This will just spite the potential users to prove a point and could be more harmful to OSS in the long run.

I would love to live in a DRM free world. It wouldn't affect the number of DVD's and CD's I buy - well, actually it would, because I don't currently buy any CD's or downloaded music that is copyprotected or DRMed.

From a moralistic stand-point RS is correct, but from a practical stand-point Linus is correct...

I'd rather suffer having to put up with some DRM in closed source drivers running on top of my OSS software than not be able to access the content at all, until the conglomerates can be persuaded that people who buy their product aren't the criminals...

via Facebook 28 January, 2006 10:09
Reply

Cannot see why Linus should accept GPL3 right now.
It is still a draft, there is no hurry and no reason at all to accept it at this point.
In fact I cannot see a single reason for a decision on GPL3 by
Linus right now.
Which does not mean that I am against a revision of the GPL.

via Facebook 29 January, 2006 21:35
Reply

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