On 01/09/07, Rui Miguel Silva Seabra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 04:08:46PM -0600, Theo de Raadt wrote: > > > On Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 11:39:28AM -0600, Theo de Raadt wrote: > > > > > In the case of the later 3 files, their copyright notice says: > > > > > "at your choice" you may distribute under the terms of the BSD > > > > > license or under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 > > > > > > > > > > So if they chose to distribute those 3 files under the terms of the > > > > > GNU > > > > > GPL v2, it is correct to change the copyright notice of those three > > > > > files > > > > > alone in order to remove a license that the distributor chose not to > > > > > use > > > > > anymore. > > > > > > > > Not exactly. I won't quote from the GPL again, but even the GPL has a > > > > paragraph about this. You must pass on the rights you received. > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > > > > Yes. The *rights you received* are the central point of the question. > > > Which did the user receive? The BSD granted ones? Or the GPLv2 granted > > > ones? > > > > > > You received the full rights granted by copyright law as a recipient, > > PLUS the ones granted by the entire document. But, you did not receive the > > right to modify the author's license document. > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Which is one of two, at the mutually exclusive choice of the user. In the case > of the three files I see nothing bad done. > > > > If some software is dual licensed, you have two sets of rights you can > > > choose. > > > It's not both at the same time. The text is even explicit: "alternatively" > > > > The word "alternatively" means "replace"? It might mean "select", but does > > it really mean "replace in-line"? What dictionary are you using? If > > something > > is not clear in a legal document, who are you to decide what it actually > > means? > > That's the author and the courts who work that out, sorry. > > Most dictionaries I had at my hand define alternative as choices. You can get > http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alternative > > Noun > alternative (plural alternatives) > 1. A situation which allows a choice between two or more > possibilities. > 2. A choice between two or more possibilities. > 3. One of several things which can be chosen. > > If he chose alternative B, the GNU GPLv2, he's bound by the GNU GPLv2 terms, > and > not the BSD ones, or even both at the same time. As such, any derivative from > his > choice on has to be "on the same terms" he got, namely the GNU GPL v2
Yes, I don't think you actually disagree with Theo -- what Theo tries to say is that you simply cannot alter the text of the licence -- but you can, obviously, select the terms of whatever one licence you want to use. If you want your modifications to be licensed differently, then you would have to put a new licence on top of existing licensing text, as far I as understand. This is how it's often done in OpenBSD and NetBSD, IIRC. C.
