Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by m463 899 days ago
> It does. This is the first freedom of free software.

I don't think so:

The Free Software Foundation explicitly forbade tivoization in version 3 of the GNU General Public License.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization

I think this is one of the reasons GPLv3 came along.
2 comments
jraph 899 days ago
Forbidding tivoization does not forbid running the program, it forbids embedding the program in some piece of hardware and then not providing a means for the end user to run their own modified version on this same hardware. If a TV is to use some GPLv3 program, then it must allow the user to replace the program with their own version.

And yes, tivoization is a major reason why GPLv3 was written indeed, it was seen as a loophole to fix by the FSF.

link
m463 899 days ago
But what about apple restricting you from running a binary? If you don't have an apple id, you can't run apps? And you cannot redistribute the binary to someone else, since it won't run.
link
jraph 896 days ago
I agree with you on this, I guess I was bothered by the phrasing.
link
shmerl 898 days ago
From what I remember, GPLv3 is simply a clarification of GPLv2, the intent was always the same for all the purposes. But how lawyers see it could be another matter.
link
shagie 898 days ago
That isn't necessarily what some contributors of software under GPL version 2 thought.

---

Linus Torvalds says GPL v3 violates everything that GPLv2 stood for - https://youtu.be/PaKIZ7gJlRU

The start of the video:

Q: do you agree that you undermine GPL version 3 and how can I get you to stop

Linus: what

Q: how can we get you to stop

Linus: oh I hate GPL version 3 undermined it on purpose I actually thought the GPL version 3 extensions were horrible. I understand why people would want to do them but I think it should have been a completely new license. My argument for liking version 2 - and I still think version 2 is a great license - was that I give you source code you give me your changes back we're even. Right - that's that's my take on GPL version 2 it's that simple and version 3 extended that in ways that I personally am really uncomfortable with; namely I give you source code that means that if you use that source code you can't use it on your device unless you follow my rules and to me that's that's a violation of everything version 2 stood for ...

link
m463 898 days ago
Funny because RMS has said you can USE the software for any purpose. It's just that when you redistribute it you have to pass on the rights you received along.
link