licensing: GPLv2, v3, and Apache

[Ivan Krstić]

On Dec 28, 2007, at 11:22 AM, David W Hogg wrote:
> Is there are requirement that
> OLPC items be GPLv3, or can they be GPLv2 and/or Apache?

There's absolutely no such requirement. We will accept any GPL- 
compatible license, but generally prefer one of {GPL, MIT, BSD}. I'm  
an OLPC core developer, and actively _discourage_ the use of the GPLv3  
license as being overly restrictive -- though I speak only for myself,  
and my opinions are by no means to be interpreted as the official  
position of OLPC. Only one or two pieces of software on the laptop are  
presently GPLv3-licensed.

> no choice, why, and if there *is* choice, why should I choose one over
> the other, from a development and/or technical standpoint?

This is a difficult question with no simple answer. Fundamentally, the  
issue is to figure out which particular flavor of freedom you  
subscribe to; there are some good resources out there that go into  
these issues at great length. As a first pass, take a look at:

     <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software_licensing>

Cheers,

--
Ivan Krstić <krstic at solarsail.hcs.harvard.edu> | http://radian.org