[Savannah-register-public] [task #12728] Submission of Whonix

[Karl Berry]

Follow-up Comment #13, task #12728 (project administration):

Regarding the image: as long as you aren't including the nonfree kernel
blobs/drivers (I assume you're aware of this issue, if not, see
http://gnu.org/distros), it seems ok to me.  I don't know if Debian is still
including those by default.

The COPYING file is very clear, thanks.  Unfortunately, two things concern
me.

1) the icons labeled "Free for commercial use".  That is good, but it's not
sufficient.  It also has to permit modification, and redistribution of
modified versions.  Otherwise it's not free.

2) The stuff at the top.  First, "Any changes you pull into this source will
be also licensed under GPL v3 or any later."  What does that even mean? 
Someone has a git checkout and commits a modification to their branch?  You
don't get to decide the license of their work -- for example, they might want
it to be public domain.  Or they might want to keep it completely private, and
that is an important freedom in itself.  The GPL already guarantees that they
cannot redistribute the result except under the GPL and GPL-compatible
licenses, so you don't need to impose an extra condition, and in fact, doing
so makes the whole thing nonfree.

Second, "Additionally you grant adrelanos the right to
re-license your work under a different license".  This condition also you
cannot impose without rendering the whole thing nonfree, for basically the
same reasons.

The third sentence, "If that is not acceptable, you can either fork this
source under GPL v3 or any later or contact
adrelanos."  Well, that is just reiterating the right they have under the GPL.
 So it's ok, but redundant.

The last sentence ("Contact adrelanos, ...") is likewise merely stating
something that is always the case, so it is fine.

By the way, without real names instead of handles, I doubt any copyright
enforcement is possible.

All the best,
Karl


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