Paul,
>
> For example, if I were to add a new GC to the GPL'd Kaffe, would I
> have to sign the copyright over to TVT in order to have my changes
> distributed with the official free version of Kaffe? And if I did
> assign my copyright to Transvirtual, could they then turn around and
> relicense my GC under non-free terms?
>
I believe the following is true: (again, I can't speak for TVT here)
If you added a new GC to the GPL'd Kaffe AND wanted to have your
changes distributed with the official, that is, TVT-released free version
of Kaffe, you would have to assign your copyright to TVT, and they could
then turn around and relicense your GC under non-free terms if they
so desired.
This may or may not be acceptable to you. If it is not, then you could
a) not make it part of the official free version of Kaffe, but distribute
your own, enhanced version of Kaffe. Alternatively, you can only
distribute the parts you added.
b) ask Transvirtual whether you can retain your copyright. While I can't
speak for them, I would imagine that they'd be interested in this
possibility under certain conditions: for instance, if the overall
benefit to them would be bigger than the benefit of selling your
specific piece of code in the proprietary version. In general, however,
it is against their company policy.
c) sell your work to TVT and ask for royalties (if they're interested.)
Finally, I would like to point out that all of this has no impact whatsoever
on the GPLed version of kaffe, which still fully qualifies as free software
under the "Debian Free Software Guidelines"
(http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines)
- Godmar
