Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Can Torvalds pull a "I'm taking my toys and going home"? (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Can he? What would he be able to take and leave? What would that do to Linux?
This question has been on my mind for a long time, but never got around to asking it.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Actually you can't do that at all. Licenses are not revocable

[–] words_number 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think if every contributor ever agreed, you could switch to a more permissive license that permits a superset of the original license.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The direction of your change doesn't matter, the GPL license under which the program was already given out is not revocable.

If all copyright holders agree you can grant a different license in addition to the first one, or you can stop offering one license and start offering another one, all the new changes that were never offered under the first one will then only be publicly available under the new license.

But anyone who received the code at a specific time with a GPL license can keep it, modify it, distribute it onwards with the same license and so on, no matter what new terms the copyright holders begin to offer to other people later.

[–] JackbyDev 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wrong(ish). You're correct in that you cannot revoke previous licenses, but you can license new code differently if all copyright holders agree.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

No you can make new code under any license without approval.