GPL Cooperation CommitmentIt eliminates developers’ concerns about license invalidation, thus achieving the purpose of promoting technological innovation.

Technological innovation and development can turn the world upside down if it is spared. Hence the GPL Cooperation Commitment, which seeks to make technological innovation safe through fair, consistent, and predictable licensing.

Last year, I wrote about the impact of licenses on downstream users of open source software. While doing my research, I found that licenses are not binding and in many cases are unpredictable. Therefore, I present a potential solution to make open source licenses consistent and predictable. But I only consider “traditional” methods such as legislating through the legal system.

In November 2017, RedHat, IBM, Google, and Facebook came up with this unconventional solution I’d never considered: the GPL partnership commitment. The GPL Cooperation Commitment specifies how the GPL will be fairly and consistently enforced. I think the GPL commitment is significant for two reasons: license fairness and consistency are critical to the growth of the open source community, and the law does not tolerate unpredictability.

Understand the GPL

To understand the GPL commitment, first understand what the GPL is. The GPL stands for the GNU General Public License. It is a Public copyright open source License, which means that distributors of open source software must make the source code available to downstream users. The GPL also prohibits restrictions on downstream use, requiring individual users not to deny others freedom to use, research, share, and improve open source software. The GPL states that a license can be used as long as downstream users meet the requirements and conditions of the license. If the licensee does not comply with the license, it will be deemed a violation.

As GPL version 2 (GPLv2) describes, the license automatically terminates in the event of any violation, which has led some developers to resist the GPL. The GPL VERSION 3 (GPLv3) introduces cure Provision, which gives licensees 30 days to correct GPL violations and the license will not be terminated if corrections are made within this buffer period.

This rule eliminates the fear of license termination without cause, allowing software developers and users to focus on development and innovation.

What does the GPL Cooperative Commitment do

The GPL partnership promises to apply GPLv3’s cure terms to software that uses GPLv2, so that developers using the GPLv2 license avoid the embarrassment of unjustified license termination and remain consistent with the GPLv3 license.

Many software developers want to do things correctly and in compliance, but sometimes they don’t know the details. Therefore, the importance of the GPL commitment is to provide guidance to software developers to avoid license termination due to simple errors.

The Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board announced in 2017 that the Linux kernel project would adopt GPLv3’s cure terms. Driven by the commitment to GPL collaboration, many large tech companies and individual developers have made the same commitment to extend the provision to all software they license under GPLv2 (or LGPLv2.1), not just contributions to the Linux kernel.

Widespread adoption of the GPL collaboration promise will have a very positive impact on the open source community. If more companies and individuals begin to adopt the GPL co-commitment, the vast majority of software currently licensed under GPLv2 or LGPLv2.1 will meet the terms of the license in a fairer and more predictable manner.

As of November 2018, more than 40 industry leaders, including IBM, Google, amazon, Microsoft, Tencent, Intel, and RedHat, have signed the GPL commitment to create a fair standard and predictable execution for the open source community. The GPL collaboration commitment is a successful example of the open source community coming together to guide the future of open source.

The GPL collaboration promises to show downstream users that developers treat them with respect, while also demonstrating that developers’ code under the GPLv2 license is safe. For more information, including how to add your name to the GPL Pledge, visit the GPL Pledge website.

via: https://opensource.com/article/18/11/gpl-cooperation-commitment

Author: Brooke Driver (lujun9972

This article is originally compiled by LCTT and released in Linux China