I'm less bothered than I had been...

Story: Opinion: GPLv3 lacks focus on fundamentalsTotal Replies: 2
Author Content
dinotrac

Apr 07, 2007
3:27 PM EDT
Ouch.

This hits home because I owe a number of people (included the esteemed Rev. Editor in Chief) my take on the GPLV3. I've downloaded the 61 page FAQ and everything. In my defense..I'm coming off a terrible week. I am going to do it, Rev et al, I promise.

On the other hand...Today I managed to have a nice chat with Peter Brown, Executive Director of the FSF, and -- can you believe it? -- the topic of GPLV3 happened to come up.

I don't want to give away too much -- there is an article in this -- but he told me something about the process that made me feel much better.

First and foremost -- and very big to me -- is that RMS and the FSF are very concerned about the unintended consequences of the license language. That reassures me ( a bit) because I have been harping on the potential for unintended consequences from the minute they adjusted the license to deal will Novell-Microsoft.

The second thing he told me was that they've gotten a lot of helpful input from corporate lawyers.

That may be a head-scratcher (FSF, RMS, & corporate lawyers?), but it sounded real good to me. It means that Mr. Lunatic Fringe, St. IGNUtius, is actually not completely out of touch with this world, but is still the same guy who just wanted to share a printer driver fix with the world.

I think the FSF cares very much about the four freedoms. I also think they care about people actually getting as much software freedom as possible. I think they're working very hard not to screw it up.
jimf

Apr 07, 2007
3:48 PM EDT
> I think they're working very hard not to screw it up.

yeah, I got to agree with that. Up until a few weeks ago, I would have given V3 little chance of being welcomed by the majority in the Linux community. Now I'm cautiously optimistic.
Abe

Apr 07, 2007
6:27 PM EDT
Dino,

I am very glad you got involved up close and personal. I am excited about what you have to say. But don't let us wait for too long though.

Have a happy Easter.

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