Why is Fedora not a Free GNU/Linux distributions?
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell at gmail.com
Tue Jul 22 18:13:38 UTC 2008
Alexandre Oliva wrote:
>> Yes, so if you want to distribute a copy under the GPL, you must agree
>> to its terms, which then cover the entire work.
>
> But that does not take away any other rights you might have as to
> specific parts.
Rights aren't the issue. The question is whether you agree to the GPL
terms, which specify the work-as-a-whole and what you will do with it.
>> But both licenses can't apply at once.
>
> Why not? Can't you redistribute a dual-licensed package? Do you
> think you have to choose between the two licenses before you're
> entitled to redistribute it, and then distribute it only under one of
> the licenses?
I don't see how you can agree to the GPL terms for a copy first, then
distribute a copy of some dual or other licensed part of it in a way you
just agreed not to do. So it's one or the other.
> That's not the way it works. You have permissions. You can choose to
> use them any time you like.
Except that you agreed not to in that 2b clause.
> What might happen, in the specific case of licenses with a termination
> clause, is that if you perform some action that contradicts the
> license, you may have your license to the whole terminated.
>
> If this is what you're getting at, you may indeed be onto something.
> But this is beyond my knowledge of copyright history, and anything I
> say further would be speculation.
It's unlikely that anyone would know which terms you used for which copy
or when you did it, but I don't see how the agreement to apply the GPL
restrictions to the work-as-a-whole ever goes away once you make it.
> My point was that you don't have to agree to its terms if you have a
> different license to distribute some particular portion. You can
> clearly do that. Your concern is that you might then no longer have
> the GPL permissions as to the whole. This concern was never clear to
> me.
The point of that work-as-a-whole clause is to get you to agree to apply
restrictions to other people's work - and your own if you add any.
That's the reason the GPL is different from other licenses.
--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell at gmail.com
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