Heute ist die neue GPLv3 in ihrer endgültigen Fassung veröffentlicht worden und hat damit rechtsverbindlichen Charakter erlangt. Nur wenige Stunden nach Veröffentlichung haben nach einer Mitteilung der FSF bereits 15 GNU-Softwarepakete auf die GPLv3 umgestellt. Hier die offizielle Pressemitteilung:
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Friday, June 29, 2007 -- The Free
Software
Foundation (FSF) today released version 3 of the GNU General
Public License
(GNU GPL), the world's most popular free software
license.
"Since we
founded the free software movement, over 23 years ago, the
free software
community has developed thousands of useful programs
that respect the user's
freedom. The programs are in the GNU/Linux
operating system, as well as
personal computers, telephones, Internet
servers, and more. Most of these
programs use the GNU GPL to
guarantee every user the freedom to run, study,
adapt, improve, and
redistribute the program," said Richard Stallman, founder
and
president of the FSF.
Version 3 of the GNU GPL strengthens this
guarantee, by ensuring that
users can modify the free software on their
personal and household
devices, and granting patent licenses to every user.
It also extends
compatibility with other free software licenses and
increases
international uniformity.
Jeremy Allison, speaking on behalf
of the Samba team, states that they
see the new license as "a great
improvement on the older GPL," and
that it is "a necessary update to deal
with the new threats to free
software that have emerged since version 2 of
the GPL."
The warm embrace of much of the community should come as no
surprise,
for the license is the final result of an unprecedented
drafting
process that has seen four published drafts in eighteen months.
These
were the basis for a discussion that included thousands of
comments
from the public. This feedback, along with input from
committees
representing the public and private sectors, and legal advice from
the
Software Freedom Law Center, was used in writing the text of
GPL
version 3.
"By hearing from so many different groups in a public
drafting
process, we have been able to write a license that
successfully
addresses a broad spectrum of concerns. But even more
importantly,
these different groups have had an opportunity to find common
ground
on important issues facing the free software community today, such
as
patents, tivoization, and Treacherous Computing," said the
Foundation's
executive director, Peter Brown.
Tivoization and Treacherous (aka,
"Trusted") Computing are schemes to
prevent users from utilizing modified or
alternate software. The
former simply blocks modified software from running;
the latter
enables web sites to refuse to talk to modified software. Both
are
typically used to impose malicious features such as
Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM). GPL version 3 does not restrict
the
features of a program; in particular, it does not prohibit
DRM.
However, it prohibits the use of tivoization and Treacherous
Computing
to stop users from changing the software. Thus, they are free
to
remove whatever features they may dislike.
Karl Berry, long-time
GNU developer and Texinfo maintainer, believes
that "the GPL is the
fundamental license that ties the free software
community together, and
version 3 does an excellent job of updating
the license to the present-day
computing reality." Elated by the new
patent clause, he bemoans software
patents as "a scourge on our
cooperative efforts."
Over fifteen GNU
programs will be released under the new license
today, and the entire GNU
Project will follow suit in the coming
months. The FSF will also encourage
adoption of the license through
education and outreach programs. "A lot of
time and effort went into
this license. Now free programs must adopt it so as
to offer their
users its stronger protection for their freedom," Stallman
said.
The final license is published at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.
About the GNU
General Public License (GNU GPL)
The GNU GPL is the most widely used free
software license worldwide:
almost three quarters of all free software
packages are distributed
under this license. It is not, however, the only
free software
license.
Richard Stallman wrote the version 1 and 2 of
the GNU GPL with legal
advice from Perkins, Smith & Cohen. Version 1 was
released in 1989,
and version 2 in 1991. Since 1991, free software use has
increased
tremendously, and computing practices have changed, introducing
new
opportunities and new threats. In 2005, Stallman began revising
the
GPL for version 3. In January 2006, the FSF began a systematic
process
of public review and feedback, with legal advice and
organizational
support from the Software Freedom Law Center.
About
the GNU Operating System and Linux
Richard Stallman announced in
September 1983 the plan to develop a
free software Unix-like operating system
called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the
sake of users'
freedom. See
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html.
In 1992,
the essential components of GNU were complete, except for
one, the kernel.
When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under
the GNU GPL, making it
free software, the combination of GNU and Linux
formed a complete free
operating system, which made it possible for
the first time to run a PC
without non-free software. This combination
is the GNU/Linux system. For more
explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html.
The GNU
components in the GNU system will be released under GPL
version 3, once it is
finalized. The licensing of Linux will be
decided by the developers of Linux.
If they decide to stay with GPL
version 2, then the GNU/Linux system will
contain GNU packages using
GNU GPL version 3, alongside Linux under GNU GPL
version 2. Many other
packages with various licenses make up the full
GNU/Linux system.
About Free Software and Open Source
The free
software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially
corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which
cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable,
focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom.
These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more
explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
The
GNU GPL is used by developers with various views, but it was
written to serve
the ethical goals of the free software movement. Says
Stallman, "The GNU GPL
makes sense in terms of its purpose: freedom
and social solidarity. Trying to
understand it in terms of the goals
and values of open source is like trying
understand a CD drive's
retractable drawer as a cupholder. You can use it for
that, but that
is not what it was designed for."
About The Free
Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is
dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify,
and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development
and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU
operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for
free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical
and
political issues of freedom in the use of software. Its web
site,
located at
www.fsf.org, is an important source of information
about
GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA,
USA.
Media contacts:
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