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

Alexandre Oliva
2007-06-17T01:55:25Z

On Jun 16, 2007, Bron Gondwana <brong@fastmail.fm> wrote:

> I obviously wasn't clear enough. The only way to come into complience
> with GPL3dd4 is to reduce your ability to fix things or grant everyone
> else the ability to mess with things. This severely restricts you from
> doing _anything_ in certain problem spaces due to local laws on the
> topic, even if you're an otherwise good actor who is making worthwhile
> source code contributions to the rest of the community.

I don't know any law that requires tivoization.

There may be laws that require certification or limitations on the
user. Manufacturer giving up the ability to make modifications would
address this, or *perhaps* arranging for user and manufacturer to each
hold half of the key needed to run a modification (which might comply
with the GPLv3dd4 terms, IANAL).

There may be business models that require the ability to make changes.
Then it's fair to enable the user to make changes as well, such that
they don't become dependent on the vendor, or even have their
1st-generation TiVo boxes left out in the cold for a while when the US
changes the DST rules again ;-)

--
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}