Re: Using GPL for LibGTop with an exception for the GNOME Project

["Georg C. F. Greve" <greve gnu org>]

 || On 23 Feb 1999 08:00:33 +0100
 || sam@hydro.gen.nz (Sam Vilain) wrote: 

 sv> Maybe there should be a licence between the LGPL and the GPL that
 sv> allows free software to link to it only; ie if the license is anything
 sv> up to as loose as BSD.  Then somehow make it a license violation to
 sv> make the linked code non-free.

Well. The probablility for a third license is very low for a good
reason. The incompatibility between the GPL and some other licenses
(like FreeBSD) stems from a simple source: something that wants to be
compatible with FreeBSD needs to have the possibility to link into a
proprietary program. Your suggested "license between the LGPL and GPL" 
would be as incompatible with the FreeBSD one as the GPL is.

As Miguel already pointed out: the GPL is aimed towards more Free
Software and seeks to protect it's authors from being exploited. The
FreeBSD license seeks absolute freedom. As Richard Stallman likes to
put it: "The FreeBSD license allows everything, even exploiting and
oppressing people."

The LGPL has been created for a reason: to be compatible with these
licenses and to allow Free Software to enter areas where proprietary
software has such a strong grip that a completely free alternative
wouldn't stand a chance at first.

We should try to use the GPL as often as possible in order to
strengthen the pool of Free Software. In this special case I can see
why Martin wants to keep it under the LGPL though. It is his decision
to make and hey - the LGPL is the second best license out there... :-) 

Regards,
	Georg

-- 
Georg C. F. Greve <greve@gnu.org>
"People who fight may lose. People who do not
fight have already lost." -- Bertolt Brecht

PGP signature