[gentoo-dev] Re: Watch out for license changes to GPL-3.

[Duncan <1i5t5.duncan@cox.net>]

Dominique Michel <dominique.michel@citycable.ch> posted
20070709213752.0dfa2b72@localhost, excerpted below, on  Mon, 09 Jul 2007
21:37:52 +0200:

> So in fact, it doesn't matter in regard of tivoization if the tre is
> under v2 or v3. I am not a layer, but I will be very surprised if I am
> wrong on that point.

Agreed.  Tivoization shouldn't be an issue in this case for several 
reasons.  The Gentoo alternative just doesn't make sense for someone 
trying to tivoize, as there are better alternatives (virtually anything 
package manager designed primarily to work with binaries, as opposed to 
source).

> I don't know if an individual patches in some ebuild-xyz/files folder
> can be under v3 or v2 and later in order to be able to legally patch a
> gpl-v3 xyz software.
> 
> The situation is: the ebuild-xyz have a patch under gpl-v2 in its files
> folder because it is in the tree and the whole tree is v2 only. And the
> software xyz is under gpl-v3. The problem is at I think at it will not
> be allowed by the software xyz because gpl-v3 is not compatible with a
> patch under the gpl-v2 only licence. The patch's licence must be gpl-v2
> or later, gpl-v3, or gpl-v3 or later.

That's not an issue, because the copyright and license on the tree is on 
the collective whole, not on the components, which if copyrightable will 
have their own licenses.  That's a very common and legally well supported 
principle, that the collection gets its own copyright apart from the 
components.  Related but a slightly different angle is the "mere 
aggregation" clause of the GPLv2 (and I believe v3 as well, I don't know 
it as well yet).  That a collection of otherwise uncopyrightable 
"trivials" or information in the public domain can yet be copyrighted is 
also legally well supported.  Databases and phonebooks are precedents 
there.

Lest anyone get a very wrong idea, IANAL, tho the area is of some 
interest to me, so I follow it to some degree.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

-- 
gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list