Kernel developers' position on GPLv3
September 23, 2006 Leave a comment
It's a well know issue that Linus is not a fan of the new GPLv3 (previous GPLv3 coverage here, here, here and here). A group of kernel maintainers have now released a document, entitled The Dangers and Problems with GPLv3, that explains their position. Here is the document preamble:
This document is a position statement on the GNU General Public License version 3 (in its current Draft 2 form) and its surrounding process issued by some of the Maintainers of the Linux Kernel speaking purely in their role as kernel maintainers. In no regard should any opinion expressed herein be construed to represent the views of any entities employing or being associated with any of the authors.
The document is a fairly in depth overview of the current position of many high profile kernel contributors and contains a mix of history, goals and current perceived problems with the GPLv3. They bring up specific issue with “DRM Clauses”, “Additional Restrictions Clause” and “Patents Provisions”. Overall, if this is a topic that interests you I'd encourage you to head over to LWN and read the entire article. As I've stated before there seems to still be some significant resistance to the GPLv3 and we could be in real danger of a situation where some GPL software is incompatible with other GPL software. That's a situation that isn't good for anyone. One hopes these issues can be worked out amicably and things can move forward smoothly. Given how adamant both sides seem in their views, especially with regard to DRM, I'm not sure this is going to be the case. As always, this is a topic I'll be posting updates to as it unfolds. In a related story, a poll of kernel developers was recently posted with the following results (full poll details available here):
Total Votes Cast 29
Average Vote -2.0 +/- 0.7
Lowest Vote -3.0
Highest Vote 0.0
Median Vote -2.0
–jeremy
Open Source, GPL, GPLv3, kernel, Linux, DRM, FSF