Re: [glob2-devel] Version 3 of GPL license issued yesterday

[Martin Voelkle]

On 7/2/07, Cyrille Dunant <address@hidden> wrote:
> On Monday 02 July 2007 19.59:30 Martin Voelkle wrote:
> > On 7/2/07, Cyrille Dunant <address@hidden> wrote:
> > > On Saturday 30 June 2007 11.32:38 Kieran P wrote:
> > > > Ok. Then all someone needs to do is update the COPYING file in master
> > > > branch, and it will be included in all future versions.
> > > >
> > > > Does anyone actually have a list of changes from version 2 though? Is
> > > > it just rewritten after 16 years to make things clearer and include
> > > > some little things in it? For all we know, it could grant someone the
> > > > permission to take over a project when inactive for a certain period of
> > > > time. Who knows ^_^
> > > >
> > > > Regards
> > > > Kieran
> > >
> > > Actually, to change the license from 2 or above to 3 or above, you _must_
> > > have the permission of all authors.
> >
> > Really? You just happen to have code licensed under version 2 or
> > above, chose a subset (version 3 and above) of all the licenses you
> > can chose from, and distribute the work under all these licenses.
>
> No, because the _minimum_ license is set in any case by the statement, and
> this minimum cannot be changed without the permission of all authors.

But you can remove the minimum by releasing under v3 only, right?
So why can't you remove the minimum and release under v3 or later?

> > > Note also that v2 and v3 are incompatible, essentially because v3 _adds_
> > > restrictions.
> >
> > But "v2 or later" can be redistributed under "v3 or later".
>
> No, they can be redistributed as v2 or later, which means that the licensee
> may use the additional permissions granted by v3. If there are none, well,
> though.

Redistributing under "v3 or later" would mean agreeing to the "later"
versions without agreeing to v2. Isn't that an option granted by the
statement?

> > That's how I interpret the "v2 or later" clauses. IMHO, IANAL, etc.
>
> You might want to check on the GNU's project site, then :)

I can't find anything on upgrading (or not being able to upgrade) the
"or any later version" clause. Do you have any pointers?

Martin