On 7/17/2010 7:09 PM, Nelson Bolyard wrote:
So, Mozilla lawyers have rewritten the MPL, forming an alpha of MPL 2.
And make no mistake, it's a rewrite.
Now, looking down the road, I expect that, just as in the past when
Mozilla switched from the dual license to the tri-license, there will
be a whole lotta letters and/or emails sent out asking past contributors
to agree to relicense past contributions under the new license.
What's the plan for when past contributors of substantial portions
do not agree, either because they have some specific objection
or simply because they no longer exist (e.g. corporations, or
deceased persons) or (in at least one case) are corporations that
have been acquired since they made their past contributions, and
their new owners are not open source friendly (to say the least)?
Then what?
Rip out the old software and look for a replacement? (Good luck!)
My understanding is that Mozilla "the project" does not require a
re-licensing like it did for the tri-licensing effort. If the MPL is
updated, then the Mozilla project will have to decide, like any other
project using the MPL, whether or not to update to the latest version.
Doing so won't require that every copyright holder assent like it did
when adopting the additional license a few years ago. This is not a
re-licensing like it was for the LGPL and GPL additions.
- A
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