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List:       kde-licensing
Subject:    Re: [rms@gnu.org: Re: can normal programs be LGPL'ed?]
From:       "Jules Bean" <jmlb2 () hermes ! cam ! ac ! uk>
Date:       1998-11-30 21:51:06
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--On Mon, Nov 30, 1998 10:26 pm +0100 "Warwick Allison" <warwick@troll.no>
wrote: 

> "Jules Bean" wrote:
>>The GPL prevents your work being legally
>>incorporated into a proprietry whole,
> 
> Unfortunately, it seems to prevent a whole host of other very reasonable
> things too.  Most unfortunate of all, there seems to be a vanguard of
people
> who care nothing for "reasonable", being more interested in the letter
than
> the spirit of the GPL.  It gave me some sense of hope that RMS made
statements
> about the spirit of the GPL with regard to the QPL.

Yes.  The problem is if the spirit of the GPL is not adequately expressed by
the words of it.

However, at the end of the day, the GPL is a legal document.  So if it can
be shown that the wording means something, then that's what it legally
means.  (Um.  Badly put.  You know what I mean).

So, of course, it's not really perfect to argue "such and such is
reasonable" if it is actually contradicted by the words of the GPL.  In this
case, the GPL is the wrong license (if the aforementioned reasonable thing
is something you want your licensees to be able to do).

RMS may well, at some point, release a GPL version 3.  This would be
retroactively applicable to almost all GPL software, since most GPL'ed
software includes the standard boiler-plate which says that the license is
version 2, or at your option, any later version.

I'm sure he is listening (intermittently - he's a busy man) to all the
current conversation about the problems with the GPL, and let's hope for a
future license with all the free 'power' of the GPL, and without the
problems.

Jules


/----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\
|  Jelibean aka  | jules@jellybean.co.uk         |  6 Evelyn Rd        |
|  Jules aka     | jules@debian.org              |  Richmond, Surrey   |
|  Julian Bean   | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk        |  TW9 2TF *UK*       |
+----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------+
|  Debian GNU/Linux - "Microsoft *does* have a year 2000 problem -     |
|                      and we're it!" (paraphrased from IRC)           |
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