rkowalickon Hacker News • Recommends
On “Antique BeOS Content by Scot Hacker (2011)”
Here is an excellent video of Linus talking about why he specifically chose the GPLv2 and how he felt betrayed when the FSF released GPLv3: link to this video
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Linus Torvalds says GPL v3 violates everything that GPLv2 stood for
TFiR
31K subscribers • 4 videos on Hallway
- Recommended by 2 people: 2 on Hacker News.
- A classic. People kept recommending it from 2018 to 2021.
- Presented by Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux
- An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.
Beginner. No background in the topic needed.
514K views12 years ago2 recommendations
History and cultureTools and practiceOpen sourceHistory of computing
Linus Torvalds explains his objections to the GPLv3 license and why he chose GPLv2 for the Linux kernel.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get such interviews in your inbox: tfir.io/tfir-daily-newsletter/ Linus says that GPL V3 is a neat licence but it violates everything that V2 stood for.Why it's here
2 people recommend thisWhat people say. Recommended as a key resource for understanding Linus Torvalds' perspective on open-source licensing and the FSF.
jraphon Hacker News • Recommends
On “60x speed-up of Linux “perf””
Well, I don't think I agree with him and would licence GPL code with the "or later" clause, but he has a very reasonable and convincing argument against it. See this video of him explaining his take on GPLv3 and the "or later" clause at Deb Conf if you are interested: link to this video
TylerEon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Relicensing Dolphin: The long road to GPLv2+”
Linus is very anti-GPL3 Quote: "In a very real sense, the GPLv3 asks people to do things that I personally would refuse to do. I put Linux on my kids computers, and I limit their ability to upgrade it. Do I have that legal right (I sure do, I'm their legal guardian), but the point is that this is not about "legality", this is about "morality". The GPLv3 doesn't match what I think is morally where I want to be. I think it is ok to control peoples hardware. I do it myself." For something quite recent: link to this video
myzticon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Linux Foundation quietly drops community representation”
…Linux project. Whether this step of the Linux foundation is right or not, can't say for sure, but I totally understand it. A political anti-business pro-freedom-everywhere radical who already is involved in suing some of the companies she is supposed to work with on that said board? Sounds like a headache you would want to avoid at all costs. 1 link to this video…
vacrion Hacker News • Mentions
On “Canonical, Ubuntu, and Why I Seem so Upset About Them All the Time”
Well, have a crack at it, then. Here is Torvalds talking about how he sees the point of the earlier GPL being subverted by v3, and that he thinks that the FSF lied to people about it. In his opinion, it should have been named a different license. He goes into detail about how it's not the license he hates, but how the FSF behaved around it. link to this video > since they wrote both the GPL itself and the four freedoms Also, having been part of organisations that have operated against their own philosophical principles and mission statements, I don't accept that the FSF is immune to changing their angle on things. And having hung around plenty of radical progressives growing up, I've seen some handy re…
snuxollon Hacker News • Mentions
On “GPL Violations Related to Combining ZFS and Linux”
link to this video - he telegraphed GPLv3 many, many years in advance - just because it wasn't published until 2007 doesn't mean there wasn't talk about it for a long time before then.
cypharon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Head of Oracle Linux Moves to Microsoft”
…tes his views from the FSF's views1 -- and he carefully avoids using the term "freedom"). There is a quote where he claims that vendor lock-in isn't morally bad2, which is the best I could find after 10 minutes of searching: > The GPLv3 doesn't match what I think is morally where I want to be. I think it is ok to control peoples hardware. 1: link to this video 2: link…
delinkaon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Minoca OS: A new open source operating system”
Linux is not GPLv3 for a reason1. Not to mention it's only a kernel, not an entire OS. Basing your OS on a Linux kernel doesn't expose your other code to the GPL. Writing apps to run on a Linux system doesn't expose your code to the GPL. The Minoca OS folks are asking for the community to contribute code to their OS that's licensed under GPLv3. GPLv3 supporters are necessarily a subset of open source supporters. I contend that the subset is small enough that a Minoca OS licensed under GPLv3 will continue to experience a lack of widespread circulation. 1 - link to this video
anon1385on Hacker News • Mentions
On “The Linux Foundation: Not a Friend of Desktop Linux, the GPL, or Openness”
>But that promise depends on their definition of "in the same spirit," which is nebulous. Yes, very famously Linus Torvalds felt that GPLv3 was not in the same spirit as GPLv2. He described it as "a violation of everything version 2 stood for". link to this video
Rochuson Hacker News • Mentions
On “Software Freedom Conservancy: New Strategy for GPL Enforcement”
…, we're even. ... If you make hardware that locks down software, it's your decision as a hardware maker; it has no impact on my decision as a software maker to give you the software. ... To me the important part was always: I give you software, you can do whatever you want with it; if you make improvements, you have to give them back. (source: link to this video ).…
ndesaulnierson Hacker News • Mentions
On “We Love GPLv3, but Are Switching License to Apache 2.0”
> it was a resounding no according to Linus' very public rant at a Debconf a few years back This one? link to this video
beermonsteron Hacker News • Mentions
On “CentOS Linux is ending because Red Hat refused to invest in it”
I think this is true, with the MIT license being the most popular. From Linus1 on the topic of GPLv3, he chose GPLv2 as it was the best choice for doing kernel development - giving code and getting code back in return. One of his gripes about GPLv3, IIRC, was the 'Tivoization'2 additions. He felt it was going too far the other way. 1 link to this video 2 link
slownews45on Hacker News • Mentions
On ““Please don't waste maintainers' time on your KPI grabbing patches””
You can watch a few conference talks where folks really go to town on Linus for his bad behavior. On GPLv3 lots of calls for Linus to stop supporting GPLv2 "How do we get you to stop..." link to this video And the list goes on and on. That said, his decisions seem to have worked out amazingly well. At some point I can imagine getting tired at having to repeatedly defend your views.
whoknowswhat11on Hacker News • Mentions
On ““Tivoization” and Your Right to Install Under Copyleft”
There has been relatively high levels of support for normal / standard GPLv2 enforcement. That said, the FSF and Conservancy like to pick more edge cases and go to absolute war on them. That doesn't generate as much support it is true and a lot of parts of the GPLv3 push also rubbed folks the wrong way. "Linus says says GPL v3 violates everything that GPLv2 stood for" link to this video is but one of many many examples here.
maxlohon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Ask HN: Do you believe in GNU's Free Software?”
I like Linus's response for GPL v3. 0 GPL v2 was good. Version 3 is a little over. In practice enterprises avoid using everything licensed under GPL v3 (e.g. Apple freezing Mac OS's Bash veraion), that blocks innovation cause good software usually backed by large amount of budget, especially those with GUI, like Windows, Android, Microsoft Office, Chrome etc. 0: link to this video
pengaruon Hacker News • Mentions
On “User beware: Modified AGPLv3 removes freedoms, adds legal headaches”
…ude. The copyright holder clearly has the authority to use whatever licensing terms they wish. If they added restrictions, this clause is in direct conflict with their intentions. Of course the court sided with the plaintiff. I don't understand what the FSF was trying to do here, it seems obviously underhanded like Torvalds touches upon in0. 0 link to this video…