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Throughout the drafting process for GPLv3, we've noticed that certain questions have been common invarious different discussion forums. This page will provide moreinformation to help clear up some of the common points of confusion.We'll keep adding questions to this list as they keep coming up. If youthink we're missing something, pleaselet us know.

General questions about the text

How is GPLv3 compatible with other GNU licenses?

The various GNU licenses enjoy broad compatibility between each other. Theonly time you may not be able to combine code under two of these licenses is when youwant to use code that'sonly under an older version of a licensewith code that's under a newer version.

Below is a detailed compatibility matrix for various combinations of theGNU licenses, to provide an easy-to-use reference for specific cases. Itassumes that someone else has written some software under one of theselicenses, and you want to somehow incorporate code from that into a projectthat you're releasing (either your own original work, or a modified versionof someone else's GPLed software). Find the license for your own work in acolumn at the top of the table, and the license for the other code in a rowon the left. The cell where they meet will tell you whether or not thiscombination is permitted.

When we say "copy code," we mean just that: you're taking a section ofcode from one source, with or without modification, and inserting it intoyour own program, thus forming a work based on the first section of code."Use a library" means that you're not copying any sourcedirectly, but instead interacting with it through linking, importing, orother typical mechanisms that bind the sources together when you compile orrun the code.

Skip compatibility matrix

		I want to release a project under:
		GPLv2 only	GPLv2 or later	GPLv3 or later	LGPLv2.1 only	LGPLv2.1 or later	LGPLv3 or later
I want to copy code under:	GPLv2 only	OK	OK [2]	NO	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7][2]	NO
	GPLv2 or later	OK [1]	OK	OK	OK if you convert to GPL [7]	OK if you convert to GPL [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]
	GPLv3	NO	OK if you upgrade to GPLv3 [3]	OK	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8][3]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]
	LGPLv2.1only	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7]	OK if you convert to GPL [7][2]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8]	OK	OK [6]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8]
	LGPLv2.1or later	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7][1]	OK if you convert to GPL [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]	OK [5]	OK	OK
	LGPLv3	NO	OK if you upgrade and convert to GPLv3 [7][3]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8]	OK if you upgrade to LGPLv3 [4]	OK
I want to use a library under:	GPLv2 only	OK	OK [2]	NO	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv2 [7][2]	NO
	GPLv2 or later	OK [1]	OK	OK	OK if you convert to GPL [7][1]	OK if you convert to GPL [7]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]
	GPLv3	NO	OK if you upgrade to GPLv3 [3]	OK	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [8]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7][3]	OK if you convert to GPLv3 [7]
	LGPLv2.1 only	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK
	LGPLv2.1 or later	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK
	LGPLv3	NO	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK

Skip footnotes

1:You must follow the terms of GPLv2 when incorporating the code in thiscase. You cannot take advantage of terms in later versions of the GPL.

2:If you do this, as long as the project contains the code released underGPLv2 only, you will not be able to upgrade the project's license to GPLv3or later.

3:If you have the ability to release the project under GPLv2 or any laterversion, you can choose to release it under GPLv3 or any laterversion—and once you do that, you'll be able to incorporate the codereleased under GPLv3.

4:If you have the ability to release the project under LGPLv2.1 or any laterversion, you can choose to release it under LGPLv3 or any laterversion—and once you do that, you'll be able to incorporate the codereleased under LGPLv3.

5:You must follow the terms of LGPLv2.1 when incorporating the code in thiscase. You cannot take advantage of terms in later versions of the LGPL.

6:If you do this, as long as the project contains the code released underLGPLv2.1 only, you will not be able to upgrade the project's license toLGPLv3 or later.

7:Every version of the LGPL gives you permission to relicense the code underthe corresponding version (or any later version) of the GPL. If you canswitch the LGPLed code in this case to using the GPL instead, you can makethis combination.

8:Every version of the LGPL gives you permission to relicense the code underthe corresponding version, or any later version, of the GPL. In thesecases, you can combine the code if you migrate its license to GPLv3, anduse GPLv3 for your own work as well.

Section 6

Why do distributors only have to provide Installation Information for User Products?

Some companies effectively outsource their entire IT departmentto another company. Computers and applications are installed in thecompany's offices, but managed remotely by some service provider. Insome of these situations, the hardware is locked down; only the serviceprovider has the key, and the customers consider that to be a desirablesecurity feature.

We think it's unfortunate that people would be willing to give uptheir freedom like this. But they should be able to fend forthemselves, and the market provides plenty of alternatives to theseservices that would not lock them down. As a result, we have introducedthis compromise to the draft: distributors are only required to provideInstallation Information when they're distributing the software on aUser Product, where the customers' buying power is likely to be lessorganized.

This is a compromise of strategy, and not our ideals. Given theenvironment we live in today—where Digital Restrictions Management isfocused largely in consumer devices, and everyone, including largecompanies, is becoming increasingly worried about the effects of DRMthanks to recent developments like the release of Microsoft's WindowsVista—we think that the proposed language will still provide us withenough leverage to effectively thwart DRM. We still believe you have afundamental right to modify the software on all the hardware you own;the preamble explains, "If such problems [as locked-down hardware]arise substantially in other domains, we stand ready to extend thisprovision to those domains in future versions of the GPL, as needed toprotect the freedom of users."

Section 11

How do the new terms of section 11 affect the Microsoft-Novell deal?

We attack the Microsoft-Novell deal from two angles. First, inthe sixth paragraph of section 11, the draft says that if you arrangeto provide patent protection to some of the people who get the softwarefrom you, that protection is automatically extended to everyone whoreceives the software, no matter how they get it. This means that thepatent protection Microsoft has extended to Novell's customers would beextended to everyone who uses any software Novell distributes underGPLv3.

Second, in the seventh paragraph, the draft says that you areprohibited from distributing software under GPLv3 if you make anagreement like the Microsoft-Novell deal in the future. This will prevent otherdistributors from trying to make other deals like it.