Re: Junio's wishes [Was: Re: Approxidate licensing]

[Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>]

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006, Horst H. von Brand wrote:
>
> There is a small practical problem with that: How would you find out I'm
> using a modified version of your code internally? Also, the "distribution"
> part of GPLv2 is a useful filter: Only such modifications that are
> worthwhile to distribute get back, not each and every corner I paint myself
> into while playing around.

Hey, I obviously agree that the GPLv2 is a good license, but at the same 
time, I think too many people tend to think _just_ about legal issues.

Sometimes the wishes of an author should matter, regardless of whether 
there is any law that forces you to do so. So I personally think a license 
that says: "if you improve this, give out the improvements regardless of 
whether you distribute things further or not" is a nice sentiment, and 
should be honored, regardless of whether you can legally enforce any such 
private tinkering or not.

			Linus