GPLv3: Drafting version 3 of the GNU General Public License
The June 29th 2007 release of version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL) marked the end of an eighteen month public consultation process. During this time, FSFE worked to raise awareness of the changes proposed for the licence, to help the community to participate in the public consultation, and to document the ongoing discussion to make this topic as accessible as possible.
For FSFE's GPL compliance information, see the Freedom Task Force.
- Discussion drafts: timeline and details
- Specific topics
- How to participate
- Event recordings and transcripts
- Links to further reading
Timeline
The official GNU GPLv3
- Released: June 29th 2007
- Text
- Rationale
- The launch press release of our sister organisation, FSF, which worked on the drafting GPLv3
- The GPL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), updated for version 3
Discussion draft 4
Discussion draft 3
- Released: March 28th 2007
- Text
- Differences
- Rationale
- Comments
Discussion draft 2
- Released: July 27th 2006
- Text
- Differences
- Rationale
- Comments
Discussion draft 1
- Released: January 16th 2006
- Text
- Differences
- Rationale
- Comments
Specific topics
The aim of all versions of the GPL are to ensure that everyone who receives a copy of GPL-licensed software is free to use that software, to modify it, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. Version 3 accounts for changes in software's legal and technical environment, and thwarts new techniques which have been devised to take those freedoms away from software users. Below are explanations of certain issues that have raised discussion during the GPLv3 consultation process.
- GPLv3: Simplicity and Length
- Why GPLv3 says additional permissions are removable
- How GPLv3 addresses the EUCD and DMCA
- GPLv3 Embedded in Devices
- How GPLv3 tackles Licence Proliferation
- Tivoisation explained - implementation and harms
How to participate
The public consultation is now over. The thousands of comments which were submitted are still available online. The "timeline" section above has links to the comments for each draft.
Event recordings and transcripts
For a list of past and future GPLv3 events, see the Events page on the GPLv3 wiki.
- April 1st 2007. Brussels:
- November 21st and 22nd, 2006. 5th international conference, Tokyo:
- August 23rd, 2006. 4th international conference, Bangalore:
- June 22nd and 23rd, 2006. 3rd international conference, Barcelona:
- April 21st, 2006. 2nd internatinal conference, Porto Alegre:
- March 18th, 2006. The Future of Free Software, Turin:
- February 25th, 2006. FOSDEM, Brussels:
- January 16th, 2006. 1st international conference (launch), Boston:
Links to further reading
- The current draft of GPLv3
- The official GPLv3 wiki, particularly:
- Slides from a talk by Georg Greve on GPLv3, 29th of May 2006
- Notes from a talk by Ciaran O'Riordan on GPLv3, 19th of January 2006
- Video, audio, and transcripts from the 3rd international GPLv3 conference, organised by FSFE, 22nd and 23rd of June 2006
- An audio recording of a talk by Richard Stallman about Tivoisation, GPLv3, and hardware manufacturers
- List of transcripts of presentations on free software licences and the GNU GPL