[U-Boot] u-boot-v2 and GPL license version?

[Detlev Zundel]

Hi Jerry,

> Kumar Gala wrote:
>> Sascha,
>> 
>> You seem to be the person acting as maintainer of u-boot-v2.  Do you  
>> have any input if u-boot-v2 would stay with GPLv2 or move to GPLv3?
>> 
>> - k
>
> U-Boot v2 is the usage case I had in mind in my question:
>> Would U-Boot be willing to have as much GPLv2++ (GPLv3) as possible, and 
>> supporting a run time plug-in system to accommodate GPLv2-only modules? 
> <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.boot-loaders.u-boot/61801/focus=62886>
>
> RMS' opinion was that this approach could be taken WRT GPLv3 of the 
> U-Boot core and allow GPLv2 plug-ins, preferably via an explicit 
> exception.  He was also OK with the concept from an ethical point of view.
> <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.boot-loaders.u-boot/61801/focus=62920>

Don't forget that RMS also noted that this case also needs the exception
on the GPLv2 only code to be used in conjunction with GPLv3.

> If we took that approach, it would probably allow TiVoisation - maybe we 
> could craft the GPLv3 s/w to prevent add-on modules from TiVoing the 
> whole, but I think that would be difficult... if GPLv2 modules are added 
> and initialized at start up time, it would be pretty hard to prevent a 
> TiVo module from locking down the whole.
>
> Since the primary point of going to GPLv3 is anti-TiVoism and the 
> primary (only?) argument against going to GPLv3 is to allow TiVoism, 
> from that point of view the GPLv3/GPLv2-plugin combination is a failure.[1]

Indeed.

> Wolfgang's last word was pretty adamant about taking U-Boot to GPLv3.  I 
> see the U-Boot v2 GPLv3/GPLv2-plugin technique as a way to take the core 
> to GPLv3 without "needlessly" re-writing the parts we've borrowed from 
> linux (in fact, it encourages borrowing from linux, which is a Good 
> Thing[tm]).

Asking Linux authors to license their code as GPLv2+ is also an option.
Incidentally drivers/rtc-bfin.c is one example of "GPL-2 or later" in
the Linux tree.

Cheers
  Detlev

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