OT: Using collective-work copyright to upgrade from GPL v2 to v3
Rick Moen
rick at linuxmafia.com
Mon Sep 10 03:29:24 UTC 2007
Quoting Donovan Hawkins (hawkins at cephira.com):
> You yourself quoted Licensing HOWTO which gave the same argument for why
> you cannot convert from copyleft to non-copyleft:
>
> "Note, however, that an `upgrade' from a copyleft license to a
> non-copyleft license (or vice-versa) would be a different matter. If you
> are a GPL partisan, you would be injured by a move to a non-GPL license,
> and vice-versa."
>
> What other injury does the "GPL partisan" suffer besides the ideological?
Economic. Continued issuance of a copyleft licence prevents, for good
or ill, third parties from creating proprietary forks in competition.
Honestly, was that _actually_ difficult to figure out? Plainly, your
doctorate was not in political economy.
> >Oh, give me a break. If you want a warranty, Mr Hawkins, go buy one
> >(from someone willing to deal with you, as I'm guessing you'd be a
> >pretty high-maintenance customer).
>
> Your personal attack aside....
Oh, I weep for your grievous and tragic wound, here.
> ...if you aren't willing to take the risk then why should the project
> leader?
I can turn that around and ask why should the project leader take the
risk of not using the licence that best protects the interests of
his/her contributors. However, the merits of my analysis, or yours,
do not hinge on whether I (or you) are willing to volunteer to stake our
personal savings to make good random strangers' misfortune that they
argue resulted from variously implementing our recommendations.
That is a ridiculous -- and, moreover, contemptible -- suggestion, which
thus I will not dignify further.
> And in case you feel the need to continue to make personal attacks, it's
> actually Dr. Hawkins.
OK, Donovan High-Maintenance Hawkins, Ph.D., if you insist on being so
designated, I'm sure that can be arranged.
> >In _law_, actually, you do not.
>
> You chose to remove the quote from you that I was replying to. If you'll
> take the time to look at it, you'll see I was replying to whether or not
> it was ethical.
If you'll bother to read my reply, you'll note that I rejected that
line of rhetoric explicitly, as well, and stated my reason why.
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