>From: michael hast <evylrobot19@cox.net>
>Reply-To: slug@nks.net
>To: slug@nks.net
>Subject: [SLUG] Linus interview
>Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:58:23 -0600
>
>You guys see this?
>
>http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/03/09/torvalds-linux-licensing-cz_dl_0309torvalds1.html
>
>Admittedly, he doesn't come across the least bit crazy in this one, but
>rather very well balanced. There is the bit about the sharks, but everyone
>should have a sense of humor afterall.
There are holes in his argument. To continue the mad scientist analogy, what
good would the scientist's altered code be if the alterations depended on
the presence of a secret hardware key in order to run? Outside of the
mechanical shark, that code would be pretty useless to the user. Such
circumstances are what the FSF aims to avoid and the revisions that will be
in GPL 3 are designed to protect the user's freedom in such a case (as well
as others).
It also bothers me a bit that although Linus has problems with the first
draft of GPL 3, he is apathetic towards the work that remains in crafting
it. While the kernel may be uneffected by the next version of GPL, I'm
pretty sure that some modules are licensed "GPL 2 or later" and thus could
be affected by GPL 3. Furthermore, there are most likely many tools Linus
depends on that will be licensed under GPL 3 so he will have to deal with
the new changes one way or another. Now is the best time to raise criticisms
before GPL 3 is finalized.
-Jonathon
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