Say what? GNU Emacs violates the GPL

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jul 30, 2011

“Yes, Richard Stallman has sent out a note letting everybody
know that the 23.2 and 23.3 releases of GNU Emacs are in violation
of the GPL. Says Stallman, “We have made a very bad mistake. Anyone
redistributing those versions is violating the GPL, through no
fault of his own.”

You read that right — GNU Emacs, possibly the most GPLish
of GPL’ed programs, has a GPL violation.


Complete Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.