GCC 4.2.1 Released

larry bagina writes "GCC 4.2.1 was released 4 days ago. Although this minor update would otherwise be insignificant, it will be the final GPL v2 release; all future releases will be GPL v3. Some key contributors are grumbling over this change and have privately discussed a fork to stay as GPL v2. The last time GCC forked (EGCS), the FSF conceded defeat. How will the FSF/GNU handle the GPL 3 revolt?"

Comments

Re:The sad state of Slashdot editorial line nowada

[geschild]

As you can see from my posting history, I don't do this often (can't remember to have done it at all, come to think of it), but Mod Parent Up!

Re:The threat...

[fyngyrz]

Isn't the FSF meant to be working for us rather than staying in their ivory tower dictating to us what we want?

Relevant quotes: George Orwell, 1984: "The purpose of power... is power." Also, Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Actual free software is PD. Source, executable, or both. Put a license on it, and it isn't free anymore, instead, it is conditional — that is what licenses are, sets of conditions you must meet in order to use the software according to someone who withholds rights from you unless you comply with their vision of a limited manner in which they think the software should be used. This is true now, and it has always been true.

So if you're looking for freedom, find a PD project and use it, and/or enhance it, and toss the results back in the pond as PD again. Or make a new PD project. There is nothing so inconvenient and virally destructive to the lawyers and those who use them as is PD software. On the other hand, if you support the idea of a closed software ecosystem, by all means, follow RMS; his vision is as closed as any other religious convert's is.