Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3

Alexandre Oliva
2007-06-16T19:28:30Z

On Jun 16, 2007, Daniel Hazelton <dhazelton@enter.net> wrote:

> I don't see how TiVO has done this. They have placed no restrictions on
> *modification* at all. What they have done is placed a restriction on
> *REPLACEMENT* of the program.

Technicality. In order for the software to remain free (which is what
the GPL is all about), the user must not be stopped from adapting the
software to suit his needs and running it for any purpose. TiVo
places restrictions on it. It's really this simple.

And then, TiVo doesn't really prohibit replacement. You can replace
it as much as you like; just not as conveniently as TiVo can replace
it. And then, if you do, it won't run, because it's not signed with a
key that they omit from the source code. And they do this in order to
prevent the user from changing the behavior of the Free Software that
they use, while they keep this ability to themselves.

If these are not restrictions on the freedoms that the GPL is designed
to protect to ensure that Free Software remains Free for all its
users, I don't know what is.

--
Alexandre Oliva http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
FSF Latin America Board Member http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer aoliva@{redhat.com, gcc.gnu.org}
Free Software Evangelist oliva@{lsd.ic.unicamp.br, gnu.org}