Re: [Savannah-hackers] savannah.gnu.org: submission of Zinac

[Jaime E. Villate]

On Wed, Dec 19, 2001 at 11:06:25AM -0500, Simon Perreault wrote:
> This is very important to me: I want to stay in control of the license my 
> program will use. That's why I chose to license it under the GPL version 2 
> and not whatever other version. Without implying anything, what if I disagree 
> with some ascpects of a future version of the GPL?

The problem is that if you don't accept the possibility of new versions, you
are not really using the GPL version 2, since it clearly states:
 "Each version is given a distinguishing version number.  If the Program
  specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any
  later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
  either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
  Software Foundation."
if you disagree with giving the user the coice of choosing version 2 or any
later version, then you are not agreeing with the GPL.

> I simply can't trust the 
> FSF that much, you'll understand this to be self-evident.
> As long as my program is licensed under the GPL version 2, I don't 
> understand> why you would refuse to host my program on Savannah.

 "9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
  of the General Public License from time to time.  Such new versions will
  be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
  address new problems or concerns."

If after this statement you still don't trust the FSF, I respect your
decision, but do not expect the FSF to be willing to host your project in
its server.
Notice that you still have the option of choosing some non-FSF license,
compatible with the GPL, and your project would be accepted.

> But I ask of you something: if I include the clause, and GPL version 
> 3 is released, will the terms of the GPL version 3 automatically apply to 
> previous versions? Does the "or" mean that the user is bound to the latest 
> version of the GPL, or that the user can choose between the version 2 or any 
> other later version? 
The latter.
> If you answer the latter, you will recognize that 
> including the clause has absolutely no effect.

The GPL 2 says: "2, or 3, or 4, or ..." while you are saying:
"only 2, neither 3, nor 4, nor ...". To me, these two statements are not
equivalent. Do you see them as equivalent? if you do, then why do you accept
the second but not the first one?

Jaime Villate