For Better or Worse: Introducing the GNU General Public License Version 3

Richard Stallman, creator of the free software movement and founder of the non-profit Free Software Foundation (FSF), designed the GNU General Public License (GPL) for a very simple purpose: to defend the freedom of every user of a free program. Version 2 of the GPL (GPLv2) was released in 1991 and is now one of the most popular free and open source software (FOSS) licenses in the world. On Jun 29, 2007, the FSF released version 3 of the GPL (GPLv3). GPLv3 attempted to address both the legal and technological changes that occurred after GPLv2 's release in 1991. During this period, lawyers and scholars raised legal uncertainties about GPLv2, questioning the license's enforceability and scope. This note analyzes the perceived shortcomings of GPLv2, discusses how GPLv3 addresses those issues, including patent licenses, and evaluates the changes' impact on both Stallman's "social" free software movement and the more "practical" open source movement.