Re: Automake and GPLv3 (was: GNU uploads frozen for GPLv3 release)

[Brett Smith]

On Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 07:49:53PM +0200, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> However, the current Automake maintainer has very little time, and my
> time is rather finite, too.  I can work to get branch-1-10 into shape
> for 1.10.1, but I suppose it will take some days -- one necessary step
> of which will be to move the Automake code itself to GPLv3+ plus
> exceptions as the current code: the files which are copied into user
> projects have this additional clause:
> 
> # As a special exception to the GNU General Public License, if you
> # distribute this file as part of a program that contains a
> # configuration script generated by Autoconf, you may include it under
> # the same distribution terms that you use for the rest of that program.
> 
> Can this be left as-is for GPLv3 or does it need to be adjusted?

We've decided to handle exceptions very deliberately.  We definitely do
want to update all of them just to use the proper vocabulary if nothing
else -- for example, the exception should declare itself as an additional
permission as per section 7.  We also want to try to consolidate the
exceptions, so that everybody's who's trying to accomplish the same thing
has the same exception text.

We're waiting another week to let exceptions roll in, and then well start
reviewing them with our lawyers.  Hopefully you'll hear back from me
shortly after that.

Best regards,

-- 
Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer, Free Software Foundation