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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!metro!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!mindspring!cssun.mathcs.emory.edu!cc.gatech.edu!cc.gatech.edu!byron From: byron@cc.gatech.edu (Byron A Jeff) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc Subject: Re: Linux vs whatever Date: 10 Feb 1997 13:38:00 GMT Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology - College of Computing Lines: 30 Message-ID: <5dn8bo$l4q@solaria.cc.gatech.edu> References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <5dask0$13q0@usenet1y.prodigy.net> <5dfnn2$b3g@sjx-ixn3.ix.netcom.com> <5dkp57$553@gummo.bbb.sub.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: gemini.cc.gatech.edu NNTP-Posting-User: byron Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.misc:158150 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:5987 In article <5dkp57$553@gummo.bbb.sub.org>, Bertram Barth <bertram@gummo.bbb.sub.org> wrote: >>(snip) >PS: one last question: Let's assume Author A wrote a program and made > it available under the GPL. Now many different contributors added > bug-fixes and enhancements (still under GPL). Is the original > author still allowed to change the copyright (to LGPL or something > else)? Nope. Not without consent of each of the other contributors. > Does he "own" only the first version or also the improved > versions? Only the first version and any additional code that he contributes himself. Each of the other contributors own their own code all released under the GPL. > Or is only the group of all contributors able to do that? Exactly. BTW this senario describes the Linux kernel precisely. Linus couldn't privatize the Linux kernel even if we wanted to because each of the several hundred contributors would have to agree. Anyone who did not allow the privatization of their code would have to have the code removed and re-writeen. BAJ -- Another random extraction from the mental bit stream of... Byron A. Jeff - PhD student operating in parallel - And Using Linux! Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 Internet: byron@cc.gatech.edu