On Tue, Jun 20, 2000 at 09:34:15AM +0200, Marcelo E. Magallon wrote: > Ok... let me put it in another way: are the any common phrases in > English that might be somehow related to this particular wording? Or > yet in another way: is there a specific legal meaning for "public > license"? If yes, how is this meaning changed by saying "General > (Public License)"? Or yet antoher: what would "(General Public) > License" mean? Who is /not/ part of the "general public"?
While it's true that a good command of the English language helps in understanding the GPL, I don't think that there are very many english classes which spend time on the GPL as a topic. Actually, I'm not aware of any english classes that spend time on the GPL. Here's how I interpret the phrase: Public License -- this license is intended to be reusable by anyone. General Public License -- this license is intended to be useful for most people. A public license that isn't general would be intended to be reusable by a number of people, but maybe in some more limited context. For example, an Okeechobee Public License, if it existed, might be intended for use only by the people of Okeechobee. -- Raul
