linux-kernel - Re: Relicensing tracepoints and markers to Dual LGPL v2.1/GPL v2,headers to Dual BSD/GPL

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Message-Id: <1256564422.26028.248.camel@gandalf.stny.rr.com>
Date:	Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:40:22 -0400
From:	Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>
To:	Alan Cox <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...e.hu>, GeunSik Lim <leemgs1@...il.com>,
	Zhaolei <zhaolei@...fujitsu.com>,
	Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@...el.com>,
	Jesper Juhl <jj@...osbits.net>,
	Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@...ymtl.ca>,
	Adrian Bunk <bunk@...sta.de>,
	Harvey Harrison <harvey.harrison@...il.com>,
	"Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@...dspring.com>,
	Jaswinder Singh Rajput <jaswinderrajput@...il.com>,
	Frederic Weisbecker <fweisbec@...il.com>,
	Lai Jiangshan <laijs@...fujitsu.com>,
	KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	Dominique Toupin <dominique.toupin@...csson.com>,
	Michel Dagenais <michel.dagenais@...ymtl.ca>,
	Pierre-Marc Fournier <pierre-marc.fournier@...ymtl.ca>
Subject: Re: Relicensing tracepoints and markers to Dual LGPL v2.1/GPL
 v2,headers to Dual BSD/GPL

On Mon, 2009-10-26 at 10:17 +0000, Alan Cox wrote:
> > > Can  we re-distribute with dual license (e.g: bsd/gplv2 or lgpl
> > > 2.1/gplv2)   about some source of linux kernel source? I think that
> > > linux kernel source is GPLv2 only. Frankly speaking, I am not know
> > > exactly about  legal issues of your questions.
> > 
> > Yes, the legality of such relicensing is questionable as that code was 
> > never developed outside of the kernel but as part of the kernel.
> 
> We have lots of dual licensed code in the kernel. The copy in kernel may
> well only act as GPLv2 but the copy outside has other licences (Linus for
> example relicensed some of his early locking primitive/atomic bits for
> the Mozilla folks)
> 

>>From what I know (IANAL disclaimer) is that the Author of the code has
the sole right (or employer of said Author) to decide what the license
is. Not what project the code is used in. Unless there's some contract
signed (like for most GNU projects).

If you wrote the code, you have the right (or your employer) to pick and
choose what license it is. You can change the license later on, but of
course the code that went out under one license will stay under that
license. But new releases can have the license change if all authors
agree.


> > So for those two grounds i cannot give my permission for this 
> > relicensing, sorry.
> 
> One comment here - and one to be careful of for relicensing purposes. In
> most parts of the world if you were paid by an employer to produce the
> code that the request relates to then the rights to it belong solely to
> the employer. Permission (or refusal) from the code author may well be
> meaningless because such permission must come from the employer and right
> owner in question (so IBM, Red Hat etc) in those cases and not the author.

Correct, and that is why I went to Red Hat legal for this decision and I
did not make it myself. I also (previously) listed the Red Hat employees
that this decision covers. Red Hat has already given permission for the
GPLv2/LGPL change.

-- Steve


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