On Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 9:40 AM, demerphq <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 25 March 2017 at 00:51, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <[email protected]> wrote:
>> They're changing their license[1] to Apache 2 which unlike the current
>> fuzzy compatibility with the current license[2] is explicitly
>> incompatible with GPLv2[3].
>
> Are you sure there is an issue? From the Apache page on this:
>
> Apache 2 software can therefore be included in GPLv3 projects, because
> the GPLv3 license accepts our software into GPLv3 works. However,
> GPLv3 software cannot be included in Apache projects. The licenses are
> incompatible in one direction only, and it is a result of ASF's
> licensing philosophy and the GPLv3 authors' interpretation of
> copyright law.
>
> Which seems to be the opposite of the concern you are expressing.
The Apache 2 license is indeed compatible with the GPLv3, but the Git
project explicitly uses GPLv2 with no "or later" clause:
$ head -n 18 COPYING
Note that the only valid version of the GPL as far as this project
is concerned is _this_ particular version of the license (ie v2, not
v2.2 or v3.x or whatever), unless explicitly otherwise stated.
HOWEVER, in order to allow a migration to GPLv3 if that seems like
a good idea, I also ask that people involved with the project make
their preferences known. In particular, if you trust me to make that
decision, you might note so in your copyright message, ie something
like
This file is licensed under the GPL v2, or a later version
at the discretion of Linus.
might avoid issues. But we can also just decide to synchronize and
contact all copyright holders on record if/when the occasion arises.
Linus Torvalds
