A Plumber's Wish List for Linux

Posted Oct 10, 2011 19:58 UTC (Mon) by fperrin (subscriber, #61941)
In reply to: A Plumber's Wish List for Linux by jra
Parent article: A Plumber's Wish List for Linux

It also risks the continuance of your project if fatal flaws are found in your 'XX-only' license, as many believe to be the case with GPLv2. You might find your code used in ways you were specifically trying to avoid by your original choice of license.

If a fatal flaw in GPLv2 allows Stallman to come to your house and kill your kittens, then a GPLv2+ licensing enables you to release future versions of your software under GPLv3 where you are protected; but previous versions of your software are still available under the GPLv2 and Stallman can still get an old version and come slaughter your kittens (if wants to; in the GPLv2+ scenario, the choice of the exact license is down to the user).