Ok, I read the first GPLv3 draft. I foun...
Ok, I read the first GPLv3 draft. I found multiple problems, some good,
some quite bad:
-
Section 2 -
The output from running it is covered by this License only if the
output, given its content, constitutes a work based on the
Program.: does this mean that documents written in Abiword is covered by GPL?
(Edit: I misread the sentence here, it really states just the oposite
of what I thought :P)
-
Section 3 -
Regardless of any other provision of this License, no permission is
given to distribute covered works that illegally invade users'
privacy, nor for modes of distribution that deny users that run
covered works the full exercise of the legal rights granted by this
License.: does this mean that one can not make a locked down system where
users can not write outside the homedir, make /home a separate
partition and mount it with noexec parameter thus denying all simple
users the right of running modified versions of these programs (at
least on this system)?
-
Section 4. -
You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source
code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
copyright
notice;: does that mean that I have to write "Copyright by this and that and this and that and this and that" on every CD that I record in my home to give to my friends? It sounds as bad as the original BSD advertisement clause.
-
Section 5.b -
You must license the entire modified work, as a whole, under this
License to anyone who comes into possession of a copy.: I suggest adding "legally" before "comes", because otherwise, for
example, if a company is making an internal modification of a GPL
program with some secret information embedded into the code (some very
internal communication routine, passwords, codes, ...) and some
industrial thief steals this modified code for a blackhat hacker, he
can claim that he "came into possession of a copy" and thus he has all
the legal rights use it and that no trade secret laws can apply.
-
in some places "Corresponding Source" is used instead of "Complete
Corresponding Source Code" (Edit: I was pointed to a place in the
middle of the licence where "CS" is defined equal to "CCSC". Still,
not the best style - either declare that upfront or use one style
trough the document)
-
Section 9. - it is not clearly stated that using the covered work
indicates acceptance of the Licence, but it is explicitly stated for
modification and propagation.
-
Section 13. - I really do not like geographic limitations. Anyone can
state "this program has a progress bar, which is patented in USA, so
you can not use it in USA unless you have the patent" for basically
any program thus very easily discriminating against quite a few
people. If it is illegal by other means, leave it be illegal by those
means - do not impose additional illegality on it via copyright. Law
in some countries and patent situation can change more easily then the
licence for old free software projects with many contributors.
I have not yet read any comments from either FSF or any other people and I am not a lawyer, but I hope that these problems will be fixed in next drafts.