Re: Junio's wishes [Was: Re: Approxidate licensing]

From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
Date: Oct 10, 2006, 22:12 UTC
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0610101509460.3952@g5.osdl.org>
In-Reply-To: <200610102054.k9AKsQ2a004095@laptop13.inf.utfsm.cl>

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006, Horst H. von Brand wrote:

Show 6 quoted lines

>
> There is a small practical problem with that: How would you find out I'm
> using a modified version of your code internally? Also, the "distribution"
> part of GPLv2 is a useful filter: Only such modifications that are
> worthwhile to distribute get back, not each and every corner I paint myself
> into while playing around.

Hey, I obviously agree that the GPLv2 is a good license, but at the same time, I think too many people tend to think _just_ about legal issues.

Sometimes the wishes of an author should matter, regardless of whether there is any law that forces you to do so. So I personally think a license that says: "if you improve this, give out the improvements regardless of whether you distribute things further or not" is a nice sentiment, and should be honored, regardless of whether you can legally enforce any such private tinkering or not.

			Linus