kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 3/26/2015 9:58 AM, Javier Serrano wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 1:56 PM, Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> I believe it's a fairly common practice to include a copy of the GPL in
>> a project's source code so I will remove the GPL2 only part that Dick
>> added to the top of the license file if that is not objectionable.  I'm
>> assuming that no other modifications have been made to the GPL license
>> part of the file.
> 
> I am afraid that would still be misleading since we have both GPL2+
> and GPL3+ files in the project. Why have the text of GPL2 in
> COPYRIGHT.txt, therefore giving the false impression that the whole
> project is GPL2?

Makes sense to me.  I will remove COPYRIGHT.txt from the KiCad source
when I get a chance.

> 
> I would like to join Martijn in thanking Dick for his generosity, not
> only for explicitly allowing to license his files under GPL3 with a
> message to the list, but for including the "or later" in all the
> headers of the many files he committed through the years. When you say
> "or later" you are saying that you are allowing the maintainers of GPL
> (i.e. the FSF) to have quite some impact on how the fruit of your hard
> work can be used in the future. This is a hard decision, especially
> for people who do not necessarily share all of the values and agenda
> of the FSF, but it's proven to be very good for projects. The "or
> later" gives flexibility for the future. It allows linking in code
> which is licensed using new versions of the GPL, which get released in
> response to a changing legal environment or perceived shortcomings in
> older versions. So using "or later" is generous, and I believe it's
> also the right thing to do so far as the project is concerned.

Thanks to everyone who has chosen to commit code to KiCad under the
GPL2+ or later license.  Your generosity is appreciated.  I know from my
own experience that it is not always easy to place your trust in an
organization that you may not know much about.  So far the FSF has
proven they have the interest of developers in mind which has allowed
projects like KiCad to flourish.  Let's hope they continue to work in
good faith.

Wayne

> 
> Thanks all,
> 
> Javier
>