GNU General Public License
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The GNU General Public License is, in the words of co-founder Eben Moglen, "the most important social document of our time", but in the words of almost everyone else, a necessary evil. Almost everyone hates the GPL with a passion, including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat and Tux, because it stops them from making serious money out of FLOSS.
Before the GPL[edit | edit source]
Before RMS created the GPL, free software hackers had four options:
- Release their code into the public domain
- Release their code under the MIT license
- Release their code under the BSD license
- Release their code to Satan
BSD License[edit | edit source]
“Here you go, have it, but don't remove my name. Yes, you can still sue me.”
The BSD License was first created with the BSD operating system, commonly available in Free, Open and Net varieties. The text of the license is below.
woh...man, that is some gooood shit... whadda, whadda we ment 2 be doing? go, do wat ye want with this software just credit the great pot at berkley man!
MIT License[edit | edit source]
The MIT License was similar, but more free than the BSD license.
woh...man, that is some gooood shit... whadda, whadda we ment 2 be doing? go, do wat ye want with this software just don't tell anyone the great pot at mit man - we want to keep it for ourselves!
GPL v3[edit | edit source]
Almost everyone hates the third version of the GPL, or, as it is commonly known: "GPLv3". Most objections are due to viral nature of the deal with Satan which takes effect upon reading it. It is felt to be unfair that just by reading it -- not just abiding by it, as required by the GPL v2 -- one has given up one's soul to Satan. The same logic has been applied to shrink wrap licensing with great success, and Satan was committed to Hell, moving with the times.
People who love GPLv3[edit | edit source]
“It's not just a philosophy, it's a whole license!”
- RMS
- Pacman
- Eben Moglen
- Possibly Mark Shuttleworth
- Unicron
- Some moron on Uncyclopedia that nobody cares about
People who hate GPLv3[edit | edit source]
“Hello, my name is Linus Torvalds, and I hate the GPLv3”
“GPLv3 is the scurge of the coding classes”
“One, RMS wrote it, Two, Eben messed with it, Three, Linus rejected it, Four - now I hate the GPL too”
“Ppmmmmmfppp mfffmmmn mppfpmppfpmffmffmpmffppfppp fppmffffpmffppp pmpmffpppmpmfmm (pmpmffpppmpmfmm, fm mppfpppmmppfmm mmpm ffmfmmfmmpppff fmpmmmfpfmmm, mpmmpppfmmpppppmpmmffpppmfm ppfppp fmpmmmfmmfmpmpp) mmpfmffm”
The GPLv3[edit | edit source]
0. Definitions. “This License” refers to version 3 of the GNU General Public License. “Copyright” also means copyright-like laws that apply to other kinds of works, such as semiconductor masks. “The Program” refers to any copyrightable work licensed under this License. Each licensee is addressed as “you”. “Licensees” and “recipients” may be individuals or organizations. To “modify” a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work in a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an exact copy. The resulting work is called a “modified version” of the earlier work or a work “based on” the earlier work. A “covered work” means either the unmodified Program or a work based on the Program. To “propagate” a work means to do anything with it that, without permission, would make you directly or secondarily liable for infringement under applicable copyright law, except executing it on a computer or modifying a private copy. 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