FLA

[Richard Moore]

Marc Mutz wrote:
> 
> On Thursday 06 February 2003 20:37, Richard Moore wrote:
> <snip>
> > Definitely. I for one, will not assign my copyright to anyone else. I
> > do not trust the FSF at all - they have changed what they say the GPL
> > means time and again, and I have no faith that even future GPL
> > versions will match what I want. I have removed the 'future versions'
> > clause from some of my code already, and I will do so for the rest
> > should this become
> > policy.
> <snip>
> 
> 1. FSF (NA) != FSF Europe

The FLA says 'FSF Europe and its sister organisations' so, is that
actually true? I can't see a definition of what those organisations
are.

> 2. Read the FLA before trying to comment on it, _please_. You'd have
> noticed that you retain all use rights, esp. are free to re-license the
> code and re-use it anywhere you want. There's nothing that effectively
> changes for you, except that your code is cared for in court and if you
> lose interest or die. The contract becomes void if the FSF doesn't act
> on your behalf, etc, etc.

This says it is an exclusive license, and only grants me the right to
further non-exclusive licenses. This implies that I don't retain the
right to defend the copyright when I release it under another license
(eg one that is closed source and the FSF would not want involvement
in) - am I misunderstanding this?

The FLA does not make clear the version of the licenses it talks
about. Does it mean current as in 'at the time of the agreement'
or current as in 'at the time the license is being defended'? This
is highly relevent to my point above.

> 
> 3. The question is not to assign your rights to the FSF(E), but to _KDE
> e.V._ of which you are apparently a member. That the e.V. delegates the
> enforcement of the (L)GPL for you to the FSFE would just be a needed
> workaround for the fact that the e.V. is not yet equipped to enforce it
> itself. If you don't trust the e.V., then why are you are member?

The fact that I am a member of the e.V. does not mean that I agree
with everything it decides, neither does it mean that it should gain
additional rights over my work automatically (or by policy). Does the
fact you live in a democracy mean that you agree with everything your
government does? of course not - that is why we have opposition parties.
If I transfer ownership of my work, then I am saying 'I trust the e.V.
will act in ways I am happy with from now until the end of eternity' -
I do not.

Rich.

> 
> Marc
> 
> --
> If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier...just as
> long as I'm the dictator...
> -- George W. Bush, Washington, DC, Dec 18, 2000,
>    during his first trip to Washington as President-Elect
> 
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