GPLv2
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| GPLv2 | |
|---|---|
| Name | GNU General Public License version 2 |
| Author | Free Software Foundation |
| Published | 1991 |
| License | copyleft |
| Status | published |
GPLv2
The GNU General Public License version 2 is a widely used free software license promulgated by Free Software Foundation and associated with projects such as Linux kernel, GNU Project, Emacs, GCC (GNU Compiler Collection), and GIMP. It establishes terms for distribution, modification, and redistribution of software and has influenced legal discourse involving entities like Software Freedom Law Center and courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The license interacts with organizations such as Red Hat, SUSE, Debian, Canonical (company), and Mozilla Foundation in governance and compliance activities.
Overview
GPLv2 is a copyleft license written by Richard Stallman and maintained by the Free Software Foundation. It grants users rights to run, study, share, and modify licensed software while requiring that modified versions be distributed under the same license terms when conveyed, a principle enforced in disputes involving Linus Torvalds, Bradley Kuhn, Larry Wall, Erik S. Raymond, Bruce Perens and others. The license text defines obligations regarding source code availability and distribution practices that have shaped projects hosted by GNU Savannah, SourceForge, GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
History and Development
Drafted in 1991, GPLv2 updated the original GNU General Public License to address challenges that arose in early Free Software Foundation advocacy and collaboration among projects like Texinfo, GDB (GNU Debugger), Make (software), Bash (Unix shell), and Coreutils. Key figures in its adoption include Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Miguel de Icaza, Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and organizations such as Free Software Foundation Europe, Open Source Initiative, X Consortium, Academy Software Foundation, and academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. Events influencing its development included discussions at conferences like LinuxTag, FOSDEM, OSCON, LibrePlanet, DebConf, and EuroBSDCon.
Key Provisions and Terms
GPLv2 contains clauses addressing source code distribution, derivative works, license compatibility, and patent considerations. Important provisions cite obligations similar to provisions invoked in cases involving SCO Group, Novell, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, Google, Apple Inc., Amazon (company), HP Inc., Intel Corporation, Qualcomm, and Nokia. The license’s framework for conveying binaries and source impacted legal practice at firms such as DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Fish & Richardson, and nonprofit entities like Electronic Frontier Foundation and Software Freedom Conservancy. Terms such as “convey” and “source code” have been interpreted in litigation and compliance audits involving Cisco Systems, VMware, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sony Corporation, and Panasonic.
Compatibility and Licensing Issues
Compatibility disputes have arisen between GPLv2 and other licenses including Mozilla Public License, Apache License, BSD License, MIT License, Eclipse Public License, Creative Commons, Affero General Public License, LGPL (Lesser General Public License), and later versions like GPLv3. Projects and organizations such as Apache Software Foundation, Mozilla Corporation, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, KDE, GNOME, Eclipse Foundation, Apache HTTP Server Project, and Chromium (web browser) have navigated these issues. Patent clauses and anti-tivoization concerns influenced reactions from Google Summer of Code, Open Invention Network, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, World Intellectual Property Organization, and national patent offices like the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Adoption and Notable Use Cases
GPLv2 has been adopted by a wide range of projects and products including the Linux kernel, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Perl, Python (programming language), Ruby (programming language), OpenSSL, GIMP, LibreOffice, Audacity, FFmpeg, X.Org Server, Apache HTTP Server, Sendmail, Exim, Samba (software), Bind (software), QEMU, KVM (kernel-based virtual machine), Docker, Kubernetes, Ansible (software), OpenStack, Ceph, Hadoop, Spark (software), TensorFlow, PyTorch, and distributions by Debian (operating system), Ubuntu (operating system), Fedora (operating system), CentOS, Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux, Slackware Linux, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. Commercial entities like Red Hat, SUSE, Canonical (company), Collabora, Oracle Corporation, SUSE Linux Enterprise, IBM, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have integrated GPLv2 software into products and services.
Criticism and Legal Challenges
GPLv2 has faced criticism from advocates of permissive licensing and institutions such as X/Open Company, Open Source Initiative, Business Software Alliance, and corporations including Microsoft and Apple Inc. over perceived restrictions and compatibility. Legal challenges and enforcement actions involved parties like SCO Group, BusyBox developers with Monsoon Multimedia, GPL Enforcement Consortium, Software Freedom Law Center, Free Software Foundation Europe, Christoph Hellwig, Patrick McHardy, Netfilter/iptables contributors, and courts including United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, High Court of Justice (England and Wales), and Landgericht Berlin. Debates over upgrading to GPLv3 engaged stakeholders such as Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Miguel de Icaza, Bradley Kuhn, Eben Moglen, and communities around KDE, GNOME, X.org Foundation, Linux Foundation, and Open Source Initiative.