Linux.com: The GPLv3 Process: Public Consultation and Private Drafting

“How is the third version of the GNU General Public License
(GPLv3) being written? Considering how much the revised license and
its success or failure could affect the free and open source
software communities, the question is almost as important as the
final content. Yet, until now, the answer has been largely
unknown.

“The only public information on the process has been the Process
Definition document released in January 2006, and whatever can be
gleaned indirectly from the rest of the GPLv3 site. Now, as
reactions to the second draft are pouring in and the process of
writing the third draft begins, a more complete answer is coming
clear. NewsForge talked to several of those involved in the
process. In particular, Richard Fontana, a lawyer at the Software
Freedom Law Center and one of the main writers of the revised
license, offered his perspective. Although Fontana considers
himself bound by his professional ethics as a lawyer to respect the
confidentiality of Richard Stallman and the Free Software
Foundation as his clients, his comments offer the first clear
indications of the process. From Fontana’s description, it is a
process that involves unprecedented consultation for a legal
document, followed by intense work by a handful of experts to
produce a text that they hope will find a consensus in the
communities…”

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