Thursday, November 8, 2007

New Guide to GPLv3

The Free Software Foundation's Compliance Lab has published a new guide to the GPLv3
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html. This Guide is designed for developers who are not familiar with GPLv3. If you have read the GPLv3 or the FAQs, you will not need this summary. However, if you are new to the GPLv3 and need a narrative summary of major terms and the purpose behind them, this guide will be quite useful.

I have four suggestions:

1. The discussion of Tivoization should clarify that this provision is limited to "User Products." The summary appears to make the requirement apply to all products.

2. A discussion of the limits of permitted modifications under Section 7 would be useful;

3. The application of attribution through the Appropriate Legal Notices section is complicated and an explanation would be useful; and

4. A cross reference to the relevant provisions in the GPLv3 would be helpful.