Re: [gNewSense-users] KFV: GPL without version - does COPYING apply or not?

[Markus Laire]

Sam Geeraerts wrote:
> Markus Laire wrote:
> > I just finished section drivers/watchdog
> >
> > There were three files where license mentioned GPL but not any version 
> > nor the COPYING file.
> >
> > Since I'm not sure whether COPYING file applies in these cases or not, 
> > I decided to mark these three cases as "GPL (only GPLv2 if COPYING 
> > applies)".
> >
> > Is this OK?
> Just "GPL" means "GPL, any version", so it's not restricted to GPLv2 
> only (although for the Linux kernel only GPLv2 matters). I would mark 
> them as just GPL.

Well, it's not that simple in this case because COPYING says "Also note 
that the only valid version of the GPL as far as the kernel is concerned 
is _this_ particular version of the license (ie v2, not v2.2 or v3.x or 
whatever), unless explicitly otherwise stated."

So if the file was written specifically for Linux Kernel, by just 
mentioning GPL author could've meant "GPL as specified in COPYING file" 
since he doesn't "explicitly state otherwise".

Or author could've meant "GPL, any version"

So I prefered to inform readers of this ambiguity by stating "GPL (only 
GPLv2 if COPYING applies)".

--
Markus Laire