RE: The GPL might be problematic for developers in Germany

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Let me put some things straight:

The GPL is a license - an agreement between the users of software and the makers of software - it is NOT a law.

The GPL has proven to be reliable and trustworthy - even without courts testing it.

To be perfectly clear: In this document the author thinks that the GPL might have some problems with the german laws. As with all licenses this is true. In the german legal system there is no such thing as a license. Ask a german lawyer for details.

This document would be of much more use if the author would have compared the legal consequences of the GPL and the BSD-license with - say - the End User License Agreement (EULA) of Microsoft. The result would have been that the Micrsosoft EULA also is not 100% enforceable under german (and european) jurisdiction.

The FSF Europe reacted to this here (german):

http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2003q3/000019.html

Also the Linux-Verband has reacted here (german):

http://www.linux-verband.de/nachrichten/allgemein/20030704132929

To put it short: Using the GPL is safe, may it be tested in court or not. Think about this: Would IBM adapt the GPL for their Linux-work if they were not 100% sure about it? Would IBM invest a billion dollar in something without taking care of the consequences?

HTH

Jan Wildeboer