Re: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux
H. Peter Anvin (hpa@transmeta.com)
20 Dec 1998 10:07:32 GMT
Followup to: <Pine.LNX.3.96.981220042215.495M-100000@red.prv>
By author: "Mike A. Harris" <mharris@ican.net>
In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
>
> On Sun, 20 Dec 1998, Albert D. Cahalan wrote:
>
> >>> IBM needs a way to tightly bind a patent license to the source code.
> >>> Without that, they are afraid to contribute. IBM might even want to
> >>> specifically tie patents to Linux. (not also gcc, HURD, emacs...)
> >>
> >> Then we don't need/want anything from IBM. Let them die a slow
> >> death after Microsoft's own slow death from W2K.
> >
> >IBM gets thousands of patents every year. They have the one needed
> >for strong JPEG compression and the original (better) bzip. Oh yes,
> >we really do need things from IBM.
> >
> >It would be really stupid to not consider making them comfortable.
> >Maybe they would want too much, but at least we ought to be willing
> >to consider making a deal. They might just want less ambiguity.
>
> IBM is a commercial entity. They have commercial interests. The
> license of GPL software cannot and willnot change. There are
> some provisions for change of license, but most software is
> impossible to change license on due to the immense number of
> authors, and patch authors. This large number almost nails the
> GPL permanently in. I think this is good.
Sure it can... virtually all GPL'd software is "GPL version 2, **or,
at your option, any later version**".
--
PGP: 2047/2A960705 BA 03 D3 2C 14 A8 A8 BD 1E DF FE 69 EE 35 BD 74
See http://www.zytor.com/~hpa/ for web page and full PGP public key
I am Bahá'í -- ask me about it or see http://www.bahai.org/
"To love another person is to see the face of God." -- Les Misérables
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/