Re: [PATCH] Xilinx : Framebuffer Driver: Add PLB support (non-DCR)

[Dale Farnsworth <dale@farnsworth.org>]

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Stephen Rothwell [mailto:sfr@canb.auug.org.au] 
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 7:52 PM
> > To: John Linn
> > Cc: grant.likely@secretlab.ca; jwboyer@linux.vnet.ibm.com; 
> > linuxppc-dev@ozlabs.org; 
> > linux-fbdev-devel@lists.sourceforge.net; 
> > akonovalov@ru.mvista.com; adaplas@gmail.com; Suneel Garapati; Suneel
> > Subject: Re: [PATCH] Xilinx : Framebuffer Driver: Add PLB 
> > support (non-DCR)
> > 
> > Hi John,
> > 
> > On Wed, 8 Apr 2009 15:11:25 -0600 John Linn 
> > <john.linn@xilinx.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >   * 2002-2007 (c) MontaVista Software, Inc.
> > >   * 2007 (c) Secret Lab Technologies, Ltd.
> > > + * 2009 (c) Xilinx Inc.
> > >   *
> > > - * This file is licensed under the terms of the GNU 
> > General Public License
> > > - * version 2.  This program is licensed "as is" without 
> > any warranty of any
> > > - * kind, whether express or implied.
> > > + * This program is free software; you can redistribute it
> > > + * and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
> > > + * License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
> > > + * either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
> > > + * later version.
> > > + *
> > > + * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
> > > + * License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
> > > + * Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
> > > + * 02139, USA.
> > 
> > This changes the license for this file (from "GPLv2" to "GPLv2 or
> > later").  Have you asked the other copyright owners about that?
> 
> Andrei was copied on the patch, we'll see if he has any thoughts about
> it. 

Although I work for MontaVista, I don't speak for them on licensing issues.

In my opinion, unless someone can come up with a compelling reason
for changing the license terms of a file, they shouldn't be changed.
MontaVista made a deliberate, considered decision to license that file
under GPLv2 and not "GPLv2 or later".  Those who use and distribute
modifications to GPLv2 licensed work need to respect the license.

-Dale