From 5ef15e08a026e82d3a1f89544099bb24f2b7af92 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 07:53:50 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Beginnings of chapter on GPLv3. --- gpl-lgpl.tex | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+) diff --git a/gpl-lgpl.tex b/gpl-lgpl.tex index d7c04a1..e2131b1 100644 --- a/gpl-lgpl.tex +++ b/gpl-lgpl.tex @@ -2140,8 +2140,40 @@ So end the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License. \chapter{GPLv3} \label{GPLv3} +This chapter discussed the text of GPLv3. Much of this material herein +includes text that was adapted (with permission) from text that FSF +originally published as part of the so-called ``rationale documents'' for the +various discussion drafts of GPLv3. + +The FSF ran a somewhat public process to develop GPLv3, and it was the first +attempt of its kind to develop a Free Software license this way. Ultimately, +RMS was the primary author of GPLv3, but he listened to feedback from all +sorts of individuals and even for-profit companies. Nevertheless, in +attempting to understand GPLv3 after the fact, the materials available from +the GPLv3 process have a somewhat ``drinking from the firehose'' effect. +This chapter seeks to explain GPLv3 to newcomers, who perhaps are familiar +with GPLv2. + \section{Understanding GPLv3 As An Upgraded GPLv2} +Ultimately, GPLv2 and GPLv3 co-exist as active licenses in regular use. As +discussed in Chapter\~ref{tale-of-two-copylefts}, GPLv1 was never in regular +use alongside GPLv2. However, given GPLv2's widespread popularity and +existing longevity by the time GPLv3 was published, it is not surprising that +some licensors have continued to prefer GPLv2-only or GPLv2-or-later as their +preferred license. GPLv3 has gained major adoption by many projects, old and +new, but many projects have not upgraded due to (in some cases) mere laziness +and (in other cases) policy preference for some of GPLv2's terms. + +Given this ``two GPLs'' world is the one we all live in, it makes sense to +consider GPLv3 in terms of how it differs from GPLv2. Also, most of the best +GPL experts in the world must deal regularly with both licenses, and +admittedly have decades of experience of GPLv2 while the most experience with +GPLv3 that's possible is by default less than a decade. + +These two factors usually cause even new students of GPL to start with GPLv2 +and move on to GPLv3, and this tutorial follows that pattern. + \section{GPLv3~\S0: Giving In On ``Defined Terms''} \section{GPLv3~\S1: Understanding CCS}