These two @lwn articles are prime examples of why good journalism matters and why you should pay money to make sure it thrives:

They both look beyond the shiny statements from the different parties involved and outside commentators such as @torvalds in this case and explain just how it is from a mostly neutral[1] point of view so that you can make your own judgments.

* GPLv2 and installation requirements – https://lwn.net/Articles/1052842/

* SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL? – https://lwn.net/Articles/1052734/

[1] We are humans, and even if we try, we are never completely neutral – and a publication like #LWN that targets the FLOSS community obviously will somewhat look at things from the view of its target audience.

#gpl #Linux #kernel #VIZIO #sfc

♻️ A Revolution Devours Its Children | Die wunderbare Welt von Isotopp

｢ GPLv3 includes provisions that, in simplified terms, state: “If you use patents to sue users of any GPLv3-licensed software, then your right to use any GPLv3 software is terminated.” This clause is effective, and it has led to, among other things, Apple avoiding any form of GPLv3-licensed software in its products and progressively replacing any GPL software ｣

https://blog.koehntopp.info/2023/11/11/a-revolution-devours-its-children.html

#opensource #gpl #languages

I support #SFC in their upcoming lawsuit against Vizio. Users of free software have the right to be able to access source code under the #GPL and manufacturers cannot continue illegally benefitting from the work of the #FreeSoftware community without allowing everyone to benefit!

There use to be a website with a collection of #postgresql database dumps you could you use for #learning purpose free of charge. But I have lost the link. Anyone who potentially have?

All the dumps was under #bsd license or #gpl license

I support #SFC in their upcoming lawsuit against Vizio. Users of free software have the right to be able to access source code under the #GPL and manufacturers cannot continue illegally benefitting from the work of the #FreeSoftware community without allowing everyone to benefit!

@andrewnez why would anyone want to use an LLM to add a license file to a project? Why throw huge amounts of computing resources on a problem that takes maybe a few seconds when doing it by hand and only has to be done once for a project? Why would anyone ever want an #LLM to read or maybe even generate the license text in order to add it to a project, a text that has already been "generated" by humans who put a lot of time and effort into creating a license that protects users' freedoms? Even if one doesn't care about the negative impact of these huge LLMs this is just a stupid way to use them.

#GPL

My insulin pump controller uses the Linux kernel. It also violates the GPL

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1puojsr/the_device_that_controls_my_insulin_pump_uses_the/

#HackerNews #insulinpump #Linux #GPL #open-source #medicaldevices

I admit I was lazy and had the stochastic parrot (aka #Copilot) generate me some boilerplate code so I could start tinkering without having to wade through a bunch of dusty tutorials and mouldy SO posts first.

But assuming this tinkering turns into an actual project, what would be an appropriate license? I'm thinking GPL3, so any prior code that might have potentially been license-washed by the parrot is copy-lefted at least as strongly as before?

Opinions?

#gpl #opensource #software

#SFC lawyers argue correctly that the Judge got it right in the tentative ruling: the contract we accepted when we exercised the new offer when #Vizio updated their offer during the case.

#Vizio's lawyer dubiously claims that because we said the offer was invalid when the case *started* means we can never test the offer for source later when they fixed it during the case.

Effectively, Vizio is effectively saying if you're in a #GPL lawsuit, you lose your right to even ask for source at all!!!

Good catch @aral! #Google does like free and open source, but only if they can exploit it.

Quote: "Google believes that open source is good for everyone. By being open and freely available, it enables and encourages collaboration and the development of technology"
– @fosdem

Really? Then Google should be open to #AGPL licences—which they notoriously hate: https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/using/agpl-policy

Worrying if Google can influence/censor #FOSDEM as a sponsor, in the same way advertisers do for journals

#FOSS #GPL

A window into how hectic & 14-hour-day-inducing it is to work for a tiny charity like #SFC:

Right now, I'm (a) listening to live deposition of #Vizio's expert witness in our landmark impact litigation regarding #GPL, (b) generating a fundraising email to ask our donors to please renew as #SoftwareFreedom #Conservancy sustainers <https://sfconservancy.org/sustainers/>, & (c) desperately copying files to my new laptop as my current one is failing in real time.
All happening in real time. Welcome to my world.

The State of GPL Propagation to AI Models

https://shujisado.org/2025/11/27/gpl-propagates-to-ai-models-trained-on-gpl-code/

#HackerNews #GPL #Propagation #AI #Models #OpenSource #Licensing #TechEthics #AIResearch

#License nerds: Is it compatible with #GPL v3 to ask soft-phone users to accept "general terms" and a "privacy policy" if all you want is to use a THIRD PARTY account? I think this is a violation. 🤔

Looking at you @linphone1 …

#License nerds: Is it compatible with #GPL v3 to ask soft-phone users to accept "general terms" and a "privacy policy" if all you want is to use a THIRD PARTY account? I think this is a violation. 🤔

Looking at you @linphone1 …

Still, #LLM are voiding the #GPL (and #AGPL) reciprocity.

That's why years ago I wrote the #HackingLicense https://encrypted.tesio.it/documents/HACK.txt

It was designed with automated corporate #exploitation of #FreeSoftware in mind: it's goal is to balance #freedom and #communion, and it share with those that accept it much more than permissions, while being a stromger #copyleft and an explicit shrink-wrap contract.

Unfortunately, it's not compatible with GPL, because GPL is much weaker.

The fundamental issue of Free Software, the one that let people create the #OpenSource narrative and permessive licenses to exploit programmer ideals and #freelabor, was that #RMS, as an American grown up during #ColdWar, was too fond of the freedom-vs-communism propaganda to understand how lack of rules means the rule of the rich.

The problem is not commercial use of free software but commercial exploitation of free labour, as @doctormo@floss.social correctly stated.

The Hacking License does not prohibit commercial use, but requires recipient to share their own #copyright with the users of any derivative or dependant work they create as a contractual binding.

It's modelled after the research of #ElinorOstrom about Commons governance and the #Hacker ethics based on the value of #curiosity.

@giacomo > Still, #LLM are voiding the #GPL (and #AGPL) reciprocity.

That has to yet to be seen. No FLOSS organization has come out saying that, and it is still debated.

What is sure though is that the Hack license is a non-free software license incompatible with the #FLOSS movement.

@doctormo

Still, #LLM are voiding the #GPL (and #AGPL) reciprocity.

That's why years ago I wrote the #HackingLicense https://encrypted.tesio.it/documents/HACK.txt

It was designed with automated corporate #exploitation of #FreeSoftware in mind: it's goal is to balance #freedom and #communion, and it share with those that accept it much more than permissions, while being a stromger #copyleft and an explicit shrink-wrap contract.

Unfortunately, it's not compatible with GPL, because GPL is much weaker.

The fundamental issue of Free Software, the one that let people create the #OpenSource narrative and permessive licenses to exploit programmer ideals and #freelabor, was that #RMS, as an American grown up during #ColdWar, was too fond of the freedom-vs-communism propaganda to understand how lack of rules means the rule of the rich.

The problem is not commercial use of free software but commercial exploitation of free labour, as @doctormo@floss.social correctly stated.

The Hacking License does not prohibit commercial use, but requires recipient to share their own #copyright with the users of any derivative or dependant work they create as a contractual binding.

It's modelled after the research of #ElinorOstrom about Commons governance and the #Hacker ethics based on the value of #curiosity.

@thibaultamartin licenses might not be enough, but at least one could use a stronger copyleft license like #GPL, which protects against more types of #enshittification than weaker permissive licenses. Which is why those #bigtech companies are scared to use them.

Generally speaking, #copyleft codebases interact best with small-to-medium business ventures rather than advancing the interests of megacorps.

#Mastodon is an obvious example — which has a growing ecosystem of small businesses (like @mastohost) & nonprofit entities working in collaboration.

We see similar in the #GPL'd #Drupal community.

When megacorps get involved with copylefted projects, it's usually to exploit rather than engage — hence the widespread #GPLv2 violations on #Linux.
#AGPLv3

Generally speaking, #copyleft codebases interact best with small-to-medium business ventures rather than advancing the interests of megacorps.

#Mastodon is an obvious example — which has a growing ecosystem of small businesses (like @mastohost) & nonprofit entities working in collaboration.

We see similar in the #GPL'd #Drupal community.

When megacorps get involved with copylefted projects, it's usually to exploit rather than engage — hence the widespread #GPLv2 violations on #Linux.
#AGPLv3