Linus Torvalds and the GPL v3

For days I’ve had this translation of Linus Torvalds’s position on the GPL V3 sitting around, and now I’ve finished it, so here goes another translation job: The English original is at: http://lkml.org/lkml/2006/9/25/161

Date, Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:50:20 -0700 (PDT) From Linus Torvalds Subject: Re: GPLv3 Position Statement

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Michiel de Boer wrote:

I support the current draft of the GPL version 3 and am very dissapointed it will not be adopted as is. IMHO, Linux has the power and influence to move mountains in the software industry, and shouldn’t shy away from the opportunity to take moral responsibility when it arises.

Well, you do have to realize that Linux has never been an FSF project, and in fact has never even been a “Free Software” project.

And please, when you join that fight, use your own copyrights. Not somebody elses. I absolutely hate how the FSF has tried to use my code as a weapon, just because I decided that their license was good.

It’s not a democracy. Copyright is a right. Authors matter.