LWN: Kernel Developers' Position on GPLv3

"Over the past decade, the Linux Operating System has shown itself to be far and away the most successful Open Source operating system in history. However, it certainly wasn't the first such open source operating system and neither is it currently the only such operating system. We believe that the pre-eminent success of Linux owes a great part to the dynamism and diversity of its community of contributors, and that one of the catalysts for creating and maintaining this community is the development contract as expressed by GPLv2.

"Since GPLv2 has served us so well for so long, and since it is the foundation of our developer contract which has helped propel Linux to the successes it enjoys today, we are extremely reluctant to contemplate tampering with that licence except as bug fixes to correct exposed problems or updates counter imminent dangers. So far, in the whole history of GPLv2, including notable successes both injunctively and at trial, we have not found any bugs significant enough to warrant such corrections..."

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Related Stories:

• CNET News: Linux Lab: GPL Clarification Needed ASAP(Sep 21, 2006)
• ExtremeTech: Embedded Linux and GPLv3(Sep 11, 2006)
• Linux.com: The GPLv3 Process: Public Consultation and Private Drafting(Aug 25, 2006)
• Linux-Watch: Is GPL 3 Dead on Arrival?(Aug 06, 2006)