[LINK] SCO does use GPL software

[Craig Sanders]

On Fri, Feb 20, 2004 at 12:39:53PM +1100, Tim Lister wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-02-20 at 11:16, Rick Welykochy wrote:
> > As previously indicated, SCO is lobbying the US Congress
> > to have the GPL declared illegal.
> 
> can they do that?  wouldn't it require a legal challenge in the supreme
> court?

they may try, but it won't work.

the GPL is, like any other software license, based on copyright law.  the main
difference from other licenses is that it explicitly allows redistribution by
anyone as long as certain conditions are met (in short: that source code is
available AND that no extra conditions are imposed).

the GPL is the copyright owner's way of saying "you are allowed to share my
work as long as you don't prevent others from sharing it too". these terms are
backed by copyright law and are as valid and enforcable as the terms of other,
less generous, copyright owners.

invalidating the GPL in the US would require a constitutional amendment.  it
would also invalidate copyrights for everyone and everything - from proprietary
software to music, movies, books, etc.

i can't say that that would be an entirely bad thing, but you can bet that it's
not going to be allowed to happen any time soon.

craig