Re: [Savannah-hackers] savannah.gnu.org: submission of Zinac

[Jaime E. Villate]

On Wed, Dec 19, 2001 at 04:01:57PM -0500, Simon Perreault wrote:
> 
> That part I do not agree with. If I take a look at the instructions on 
> www.gnu.org on how to apply the GPL to one's program (sorry, the website is 
> down at the moment, I can't provide the URL), it clearly says that it's the 
> programmer's choice to apply or not the "future versions" clause. Even the 
> excerpt you pasted mentions that the application of the "future versions" 
> clause is a possibility, not a requirement.

You're right it is a possibility and not a requirement; but for the user, not
for the author. I haven't read anywhere that it is "the programmer's choice";
I've read that it is "the user's choice". In the "How to Apply These Terms to
Your New Programs" it says:

 "This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
  under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
  Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
  any later version."

the "(at your option)" clause is directed to the user, not to the author. The
user has the choice of applying version 3 or later if he feels that version 2
does not offer him as much freedom to redistribute and/or modify the program
as version 3 or later do. Of course, the author can always make a new release
with a different license, but the GPL makes sure that the versions that were
released under it, will allways guarantee to the users their freedom to
redistribute and/or modify the program.

To make sure I'm not misreading the GPL, I've asked the FSF to give a verdict
in this matter; please wait until I get a response and I'll get back to
you. We previously had just "GPL V2" among the choices of license in the
project submission form, and we were asked by the FSF to change it to "GPL V2
or later".

Regards,
Jaime