GPLv3 Released

A GNU Dawn writes "The GPL v3 has just been released. Among other things, the released version grandfathers in the Novell deal so that Microsoft's SLES coupons will undermine their patent threats, replaces references to the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act with more specific language, and clarifies that using BitTorrent to convey a GPLed work is not a breach of the license (it might be one, technically, in GPLv2). The GPL FAQ has been updated to cover the new changes." Commentary is available over at Linux.com (which is owned, along with Slashdot, by Sourceforge).

Comments

Why is this under "Linux"

[Anonymous Coward]

Linux is under the GPL v2, not v3.

Re:is this the license that bans DRM?

[Spy der Mann]

Well, that's too bad for you. See, what you view as "the real world" will soon become "the corporation-dominated world". But we'll live in whatever's left of the free world.

Farewell.

Re:tivoisation

[zellyn]

That's fine if it were just Tivos. However, what would happen if every piece of hardware you bought was Tivoised? Only properly signed binaries would run at all. I can think of several companies that would love that situation.

Re:tivoisation

[UtucXul]

I don't see the benefit in forcing them to open up their hardware just because they want to use GPLv3 software on it.

No one is asking them to open up their hardware. As far as I'm concerned they can do anything they want with their hardware. The problem is that they want to lock MY hardware and won't give me the key. I purchased a series 2 TiVo. I understand that software has licenses so I don't own the software when I buy it in a way. But the TiVo box is a physical item that I gave a store money for. The only owner of that box sitting under my TV is me (and I guess my wife).

Re:tivoisation

[Anonymous Coward]

The spirit of the GPL is that of freedom for the user. Tivoisation, the restriction of actually modifying the code on the hardware, was an unforeseen issue when GPLv2 (which guarantees that right) was written and thusly had to be corrected in GPLv3.

If you don't understand the significance of that then I invite you to a thought-experiment of what it would be like in a world where you can see the source, but not modify it, even though that right is guaranteed by the license of the software. Oh, and in regard to your comment of using the code on similar hardware. What if said hardware was proprietary and only available through the systems provider? What then?

As an aside, where does it state that GPL licensed software must "give back?" As I read it, it merely states that you must pass on the code and the same rights to your clients. If the clients are public, "at large" then I can understand the concept that the source is released publicly and considered to be giving back. But, this concept of upstream patches that is constantly heralded on Slashdot I just don't understand. Who is espousing this misinformation? Heck, even the concept of forking would be moot if upstream patches were mandatory.

Re:Irony - I love it

[dpilot]

But it's only effective for your relatives. Maybe you've been spit out, but you're still dead.

At this point the analogy to OSS breaks down, because in this case the predator is after the kill, not the meal.

Re:tivoisation

[bill_mcgonigle]

For most devices like this, it's important to the proper functioning of the network for the servers to be able to trust the clients, and so there have to be limitations to the software you can run on that device.

Then they should pick a software product based on a license that lets you do that. To oversimplify, but in a way that most people can grok, the BSD line maximizes the rights of the individual user(developer-sense) of software. The GPL has always been about maximizing the rights of the community, at the expense of what the user wants (to keep his changes secret, e.g.). GPL3 just clarifies some of the loopholes found in GPL2 that minimize community rights.

TiVo clearly takes rights away from the end-users of the hardware they've purchased, and this is contrary to the spirit of the GPL.

Re:tivoisation

[PeterBrett]

Likewise, my Tivo is my computer. It's running in my house. It's connected to my network. I have a right to know what it's doing. Would you be as forgiving of a builder who wouldn't let you keep a copy of the plans to your house? Would you tolerate a car dealer who's welded your hood shut? It's your house. It's your car. You have a right to know where the plumbing goes. You have a right to look at the engine.

Actually, this is a poor analogy. In defense of Tivo, they are very good about complying with the letter of GPL v2 in that they distribute the sources to all of the GPL software that they use.

This explanation is much better, in my opinion.

Another way of looking at it is this (I don't have a Tivo, but hopefully my argument will make sense). Suppose you have a great idea for a way to improve the way the Tivo interface works for you, and you see that the modifications you need to make to the code which Tivo distribute to you are quite trivial. However, when you send the patch to Tivo they tell you they won't implement it because the business case doesn't support it -- you're the only one of their customers likely to use such a change. Then you're left hanging: as you mentioned, you own a more or less generic computing device and now you also have some code to run on said computing device, but you're at the whim of a third party (non-enforceable EULAs notwithstanding) as to whether or not you can put those two components together.

As many people have pointed out, the right to make modifications and improvements and to use said modifications and improvements is pretty fundamental to the whole point of Free Software, and that's exactly what Tivo have been trying to get around.

I agree that they need to be stopped, and I support the GPL v3 in its strategy to deal with this.

Re:tivoisation

[Kuciwalker]

Jesus Christ, I've mentioned it twice already: networked multiplayer games. Because I can't run a modified executable on my machine, I can't cheat, and neither can anyone else.

Re:tivoisation

[PeterBrett]

There should be no expectation that a manufacturer make its hardware available for third party development. Proprietary systems have there drawbacks, but they are a fact of life. If one has an issue with the fact that a given consumer device is a closed platform, one ought not purchase the device. This ought to be how the issue of so-called Tivoization ought to be decided, by making the business model non-viable for the company, not some poorly constructed, arbitrarily defined licensing scheme that restricts only the freedom of some, and not all. The fact that there is a "commercial device" exception indicates that the case for so-called Tivoization has a valid application and should therefore be allowed. Banning the practice for "consumer devices" is simply an arbitrary confinement of freedom that is a slippery slope.

The clauses in the GPL v3 simply say: "If you use my software, for free, to create a device which you then sell back to me at a steep price, I'd better bloody well be able to put any further modifications I make to that software onto said device. Furthermore, because I think that's pretty neat, I'd like you to extend that ability to your other customers too. If you don't like it, write your own damn software."

I paraphrase and over-simplify, but the gist is there. It's not legislation, banning the practice generally. It's very specific.

You have an objection to this?

Re:To all those complainers

[Archangel Michael]

Yes.

How many [browser, window manager, package management system, text editor, torrent client, ftp client, full distro, etc.] do you need (choice wise) before you have 99% of what you need in what is available??

The answer is "one", unless the one that exists doesn't have what you need (security, stability, features etc).

There are, in the world of "open source" and "free software" already a myriad of licenses. I can name about 12 off the top of my head. Each, more or less, provides the use with free software that is community supported. Some licenses are really free (BSD), others not so (GPL3).

I can see the usefulness of most of these license and why someone would choose one or the other. Personally I'm a BSD style kind of guy, free is free is free. But I also understand the reasoning behind the likes of GPL3 and other restrictive licenses (ie control of the code and everything the code touches).

There is, however, a broad range of choices out there, all "free" or "open" licenses.

BTW, my opinion on GPL3 is the unintended consequences of GPL3 is going to be large fractures withing the Gnu/Linux/Gnome(KDE) environment, requiring seperated "distribution" channels. I can foresee the need for two or more install media to separate out what is GPL2, GPL3, and other licensed software, where one install media would do (RedHat GPL2 disk, RedHat GPL3 disk, RedHat Apache Disk etc). There is going to be a huge artificial wall of separation that is going to be problematic in the long term, mainly because it is not needed, or required by end users, but rather needed by licensing requirements.