Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 15th Jun 2007 22:17 UTC, submitted by prymitive
A lengthy debate that began with a suggestion to dual license the Linux kernel under the GPLv2 and the GPLv3 continues on the Linux Kernel Mailing List. Throughout the ongoing thread Linux creator Linus Torvalds has spoken out on the GPLv2, the upcoming GPLv3, the BSD license, Tivo, the Free Software Foundation, and much more. During the discussion, he was asked we he chose the GPLv2 over the BSD license when he's obviously not a big fan of the FSF.
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Member since:2005-12-31
I will try to sum up what you say: Freedom 1 ist the freedom to run (modifications of) the software in as many ways as the author can do (restricted only by the user's technical knowledge).
That is, by using the GPL an author (original author or author of modifications) agrees to deny you the freedom to run modifications only if he does the same to himself (e.g. by using a ROM).
This makes sense to me.
Member since:
2006-08-26
May I ask at this point whether "freedom 1" includes as its second point only the freedom to adapt the program to one's needs, or also the freedom to run the modified version on the same device? I ask this because in the former case, TiVo did in fact grant "freedom 1". In the latter case, it didn't, but neither does a device that stores the software on ROM (which, by the GPLv3, is allowed).
I hope that the following is not too redundant; just flame me if I am missing something.
The way I look at ROM is, is there anything that Tivo can do with the software in the ROM that you cannot? Clearly no, so we dismiss that case easily.
Now, let's consider freedom 1 and the relevant question of adapting to your needs. A Tivo guy, due to possessing the digital keys, could modify the software on your Tivo device, run the modified software on the device, and thus exercise a freedom that Tivo did not pass on to you. The violates the foundation of any GPL, its copyleft:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft
Of course, the bigger point is that the freedom of the software is damaged here by Tivoization, but the copyleft is still a very interesting and productive way to think about it.