GPlv3 Final
Just after the GPLv3 final release, Smylers requested in a comment that I say what I think of it, and whether my comments on Draft 3 got addressed. In brief, then, with numbers from that document:
- Bug 1 (breaks hardware reseller business model) - not addressed. Although I suspect it won't be a problem in practice.
- Bug 2 (large loophole in anti-Tivoisation clause) - still present. And I'm still concerned about this. Time will tell whether anyone tries to exploit it.
- Practical/Legal 1 (section 5d) - GUI notifications) - the language is improved, although I still have issues with the way that such notices are compulsory.
- Practical/Legal 2 (making CD Distribution Easier) - not addressed. But maybe won't be a problem in practice.
- Practical/Legal 3 ("User Products" definition) - fixed.
- Practical/Legal 4 (Apache License 2.0 Compatibility) - fixed.
- Authorial: 1, 2 and 3 fixed, 4, 5 and 6 not. The definitions of Standard Interface, Major Component and System Libraries (number 4) are already causing confusion on the debian-legal mailing list. 5 and 6 are fairly cosmetic.
Overall, I'm a fan of both the GPLv3 process and the final licence. I agree with their assessment of the seriousness of the problems they are trying to tackle (such as Tivoisation), and I think they've come up with some excellent solutions. No license is perfect, but this one is pretty good.
Posted by gerv at July 27, 2007 3:59 PM