diff --git a/gpl-lgpl.tex b/gpl-lgpl.tex index 6429797..b469174 100644 --- a/gpl-lgpl.tex +++ b/gpl-lgpl.tex @@ -835,10 +835,39 @@ greatly with the creation of GPLv3. \section{The GNU General Public License, Version 3} +RMS began drafting GPLv2.2 in mid-2002, and FSF ran a few discussion groups +during that era about new text of that license. However, rampant violations +of the GPL required more immediate attention of FSF's licensing staff, and as +such, much of the early 2000's was spent doing GPL enforcement +work\footnote{More on GPL enforcement is discussed in \tutorialpartsplit{a + companion tutorial, \texit{A Practical Guide to GPL + Compliance}}{Part~\ref{gpl-compliance-guide} of this tutorial}.}. In +2006, FSF began in earnest drafting work for GPLv3. + +The GPLv3 process began in earnest in January 2006. It became clear that +many provisions of the GPL could benefit from modification to fit new +circumstances and to reflect what the entire community learned from +experience with version 2. Given the scale of revision it seems proper to +approach the work through public discussion in a transparent and accessible +manner. + +The GPLv3 process continued through June 2007, culminating in publication of +GPLv3 and LGPLv3 on 29 June 2007, AGPLv3 on 19 November 2007, and the GCC +Runtime Library Exception on 27 January 2009. + +All told, four discussion drafts of GPLv3, two discussion drafts of LGPLv3 +and two discussion drafts of AGPLv3 were published and discussed. +Ultimately, FSF remained the final arbiter and publisher of the licenses, and +RMS himself their primary author, but input was sought from many parties, and +these licenses do admittedly look and read more like legislation as a result. +Nevertheless, all of the ``v3'' group are substantially better and improved +licenses. + \section{The Innovation of Optional ``Or Any Later'' Version} \section{Complexities of Two Simultaneously Popular Copylefts} + %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \chapter{GPLv2: Running Software and Verbatim Copying} \label{run-and-verbatim}