3 ms·

Can you explain to a noob?

dekhn 5y ago
He meant that after reading it, it was unclear that it was actually a legal license that would stand up in a court of law. It's just too confusingly written. See Nelson Minar's comment at the end of this: https://web.archive.org/web/20081015194558/http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/05/gplv3_clarity_a.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081015194558/http://radar.orei... Every IP lawyer I've talked to since has looked at GPL and said something pretty similar. "It's just too confusingly worded to understand as a defensible license"
- smhenderson 5y ago
  Someone's lawyers seem to understand it better than he did, company's seem eager to settle rather go to trial when they are found to be violating it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusyBox#GPL_lawsuits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusyBox#GPL_lawsuits https://www.pillsburylaw.com/images/content/1/6/v2/1655/A9A22185D029BBE6EAA4332F1A7249E2.pdf https://www.pillsburylaw.com/images/content/1/6/v2/1655/A9A2...
  - coldacid 5y ago
    That probably says a lot more about the optics of being sued over the GPL than legal defendability.
  - tjalfi 5y ago
    > Someone's lawyers seem to understand it better than he did, company's seem eager to settle rather go to trial when they are found to be violating it. It's often substantially cheaper to settle lawsuits than go to trial. This says more about our legal system and the American rule[0] than anything else. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney's_fees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney's_fees)
    - smhenderson 5y ago
      Well the reason I linked to the second article is because it talks about how more and more it looks like the GPL is solid and enforceable. So expense aside, as time rolls on and more cases come up it's pretty clear that defendants assume they'll lose if they are caught violating the license terms and try to fight it.
- orra 5y ago
  That link article? It makes bold claims about the GPL being imprecise, ambiguous, and full of legal holes. But not a single example. Rhetoric, huh.

He meant that after reading it, it was unclear that it was actually a legal license that would stand up in a court of law. It's just too confusingly written. See Nelson Minar's comment at the end of this: https://web.archive.org/web/20081015194558/http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/05/gplv3_clarity_a.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081015194558/http://radar.orei... Every IP lawyer I've talked to since has looked at GPL and said something pretty similar. "It's just too confusingly worded to understand as a defensible license"

smhenderson 5y ago
Someone's lawyers seem to understand it better than he did, company's seem eager to settle rather go to trial when they are found to be violating it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusyBox#GPL_lawsuits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusyBox#GPL_lawsuits https://www.pillsburylaw.com/images/content/1/6/v2/1655/A9A22185D029BBE6EAA4332F1A7249E2.pdf https://www.pillsburylaw.com/images/content/1/6/v2/1655/A9A2...
- coldacid 5y ago
  That probably says a lot more about the optics of being sued over the GPL than legal defendability.
- tjalfi 5y ago
  > Someone's lawyers seem to understand it better than he did, company's seem eager to settle rather go to trial when they are found to be violating it. It's often substantially cheaper to settle lawsuits than go to trial. This says more about our legal system and the American rule[0] than anything else. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney's_fees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney's_fees)
  - smhenderson 5y ago
    Well the reason I linked to the second article is because it talks about how more and more it looks like the GPL is solid and enforceable. So expense aside, as time rolls on and more cases come up it's pretty clear that defendants assume they'll lose if they are caught violating the license terms and try to fight it.
orra 5y ago
That link article? It makes bold claims about the GPL being imprecise, ambiguous, and full of legal holes. But not a single example. Rhetoric, huh.