06.30.07

GPLv3 & iPhone – Looking Beyond the Disinformation (Corrected)

Posted in Apple, FSF, GPL, Hardware, Tivoization at 1:32 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

It sure is pretty, but look underneath the surface.

Let’s start by clarifying that I don’t have anything against Apple. In fact, I used a Mac for over year at work. There is, however, a hidden similarity between some aspects of Windows Vista and the iPhone. Both are attractive to one’s eyes, but there are hidden dangers (and possibly agendas) which are being centralised and then embedded in that very rigid product.

Due to simultaneous big announcements, followed by release of the iPhone and GPLv3, some sites are talking about GPL’s effect on the iPhone. Some articles seem very critical, but not rightfully so. Various bits of software on the iPhone, such as KHTML, are ~~GPL~~LGPL-licensed, but this does not mean that companies will get ‘punished’ immediately, if at all. Some articles embrace and use dramatic licence to make issues seem greater than they truly are.

Apple will not be affected. It might, however, need to honour the code that it uses. KDE [*libraries* are] is still ~~GPLv2~~LGPL-licensed [see correction in the comments below]. So, let’s look beyond this. The iPhone does not even have an SDK. Development for the iPhone is restricted to Web browser widgets. The bigger issues are moral ones and are not to be confused with licensing. The press seems to be missing this core point.

Last night, the FSF sent out an E-mail calling the iPhone “Defective by Design”. That is the tagline and label consistently used to describe products that make use of DRM and restrict (or altogether eliminate) consumer rights. There are other modern and sophisticated smartphones that neither mimic nor replace the iPhone, but they are truly open and they earned some positive early reviews. Trolltech’s Greenphone and OpenMoko are just two examples, but let’s not get promotional here.

The message to take here is that it’s rather ironic that GPLv3 is released at the same time as a product whose deficiencies might be highlighted by the big announcements (not to mention heated discussions that accompany and follow the FSF’s limelight). A few days ago, amid some excellent news for Linux, Richard Stallman reminded us why restrictions are dangerous. You are encouraged to read this if you haven’t.

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

6 Comments

anonymous said,

June 30, 2007 at 11:15 am

WebKit uses LGPL, so no problem about breaking a license. I’m interested on WebKit, maybe something like iPhone but with game joystick (for emulators) and DRM-free in all means as I wanto to use software like ScummVM
Anonymous said,

June 30, 2007 at 6:48 pm

Is someone still taking this site serious?

> Various bits of software on the iPhone, such as KHTML, are GPL-licensed

KHTML is of course LGPL licensed. Maybe you will learn about the licenses and their differences (which eg doesn’t oblige Apple to release complete source of Safari) one day.
Roy Schestowitz said,

June 30, 2007 at 8:36 pm

Thanks. I’ve corrected the text to indicate there’s a mistake there.
Anonymous said,

July 1, 2007 at 2:12 am

> I’ve corrected the text to indicate there’s a mistake there.

You corrected the wrong part and did not make it better. It still reads: “such as KHTML, are GPL-licensed” (should be *L*GPL) and “KDE is still LGPL-licensed” (should be KDE *libraries* are LGPL licensed, the other parts of KDE are under various licenses).
Roy Schestowitz said,

July 1, 2007 at 4:54 am

Thanks. I’ve changed the text again. Please let me know if it’s still deceiving.
Roy Schestowitz said,

July 1, 2007 at 6:34 am

Speaking of LGPL code and Apple, Slashdot has just brought the following to the readers’ attention:

http://wiki.winehq.org/Parallels

“Parallels Desktop for Mac(www.parallels.com) contains Wine’s Direct3D code according to http://www.parallels.com/en/licensing/. So far(June 30th, 2007) attempts to ask them for the modified source code failed. This page is meant for keeping track of this, without starting legal action or a publicity campaign yet.”

What Else is New

The Founder of Black Duck Still Works for Microsoft

Black Duck‘s founder, Doug Levin from Microsoft, isn’t doing a terrific job hiding his real loyalties and ‘masters’
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 13, 2020

IRC logs for Monday, July 13, 2020
Links 14/7/2020: Claws Mail 3.17.6 and RSS Guard 3.7.0 Released

Links for the day
Microsoft Has Put the String “0xBIGBOOBS” Inside Linux (Kernel Driver for Microsoft's Windows-Only Proprietary Software, Formerly a GPL Violation); Reddit (Condé Nast) Bans You For Mentioning Such Things

In this increasingly crazy atmosphere of mass sanctioning and permanent banning (removing everything or everyone that's perceived to be impolite) even "Linux" forums are banning people who point out Microsoft being a rogue corporation that's attacking GNU/Linux
There's Apparently a New Boss (or Policy) at Red Hat/IBM

The Fedora project doesn’t seem to care much about free speech, no matter one’s seniority in the project; as the person who relayed it to us has just put it, “they even eat their own.” (Longtime contributors) “He’s not a troll. He’s a contributor who rubbed some people the wrong way and now the banhammer is coming out. Fedora KDE was already collapsing and now it finally will.” (Note: Rex Dieter leads or led this project)
There Cannot be Software Freedom Without Free Speech (Which is Nowadays Being Wrongly and Creatively Conflated With Racism)

The time to speak out in favour of free speech is now; because the next phase typically involves removal (to be sold as "voluntary") of people whose political views are seen as professionally inadequate (recall what they did to Richard Stallman last September)
[Humour/Meme] 'Offensive' Jokes

Even humour itself is under attack now; people who cannot take/tolerate cartoons and banter are targeting the stand-up comedians, the cartoonists and so on
The Media Does Not Like Talking About Linux (Which It Doesn't Understand Anyway). It Makes the News All About Linus.

Just like back in May (or every other week) the news about Linux itself is being ignored and the subject is getting personified to make Linux seem rude and unruly
Links 13/7/2020: Linux 5.8 RC5, Qt Creator Beta, Mexico Threatens GNU/Linux

Links for the day
[Humour/Meme] Embrace, Extend, and Curl

The Curl project, a high-profile prisoner of GitHub, is again being 'embraced' by Microsoft (which already controls the project through GitHub)
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 12, 2020

IRC logs for Sunday, July 12, 2020
[Humour/Meme] Half a Decade Has Passed and EPO Management Was Never Held Accountable for Illegal Surveillance

A lot of people may no longer remember it, but the EPO can break privacy laws — as it still routinely does — with no consequences whatsoever
Cleaning the Code

War must go on; but it'll be more diverse and inclusive
Why We Care About (Mis)Use of Language in Technology

Software development communities are being divided over issues that would likely not tackle actual racism in any meaningful and profound way (just a symbolic way)
Links 12/7/2020: KF6 Progress Report, GNUnet 0.13.1, Nano Becomes Default Terminal Text Editor in Fedora

Links for the day
They Always Worked for Microsoft (Directly and Indirectly) and Were Financially Rewarded for That

Nat and Miguel, now put in charge of new weapons against software freedom (e.g. GitHub and NPM), have long worked for Microsoft (Nat was also an intern there); Techrights was right all along about this pair
Red Hat Betrayed the Free Software Community With Its Software Patents' Stockpiling Drive and Then a Sale to the Biggest Software Patents Lobbyist

In 2020 Red Hat is little but a shadow of IBM, whose patent policy continues to threaten software freedom and whose lobbying for software patents (under the guise of "HEY HI") persists uninterrupted; this growing problem oughtn't be unspeakable
Politically Correct Tech

This new video entitled “Politically Correct Tech” covers a topic we’ve spoken a great deal about
[Humour/Meme] High on Production, Stoned on Pseudoscience

All-time high ‘production’ levels at the European Patent Office (EPO) do not mean what they want people to think and what they try hard to hide
Missing From EPO Management: Actual Scientists

Political figures and opportunists with connections occupy top positions at top European agencies; this assures self-destructive policies that diminish progress and cushion corruption
All Software Should Come With a Cheat Mode

Cheat modes are useful for developers because they enable debugging, and are sometimes called "Debug mode"
Linus Torvalds Checks If It's Still Inclusive Enough to 'Bash' Bad Technology (of the Company Whose TPM Pusher Has Just Successfully Pushed to Remove Many Words)

In the age of endless control of language (e.g. large corporations pushing for "inclusive" language whilst earning billions from bombing of 'inferior' countries) we see that it is still possible to condemn corporations on technical grounds (at least if you’re Linus Torvalds)
Even Before Microsoft Paid ('Joined') the Linux Foundation Jim Zemlin Had a Preference for Microsofters

Even years before the Linux Foundation was receiving money from Microsoft it had a tendency to hire Microsoft’s people for key positions (a lot of people no longer remember that, but it’s still in the public record; it was Jim Zemlin who approached if not chased Mr. Ramji to offer him the job and the colleagues saw no problem with that)
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 11, 2020

IRC logs for Saturday, July 11, 2020
Links 12/7/2020: KDE Plasma 5.20 Preview and Elive 3.8.14 Beta

Links for the day
[Humour] The 'Orange One' Does Not Respect Judges Either

More than two years after taking over the European Patent Office (EPO) António Campinos has done absolutely nothing to restore judicial independence of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO
The Systemd Song

Speak out about IBM's strategy before we're all using GNU/Linux distros 'barcoded' with systemd
Monopoly (or Vendor Lock-in) is Not Modularity

IBM cannot totally control the kernel, Linux; IBM's control over GNU/Linux may be worth even more than what it paid for Red Hat as that's the key to overpriced support contracts and the general direction of development (important trends such as file systems and various low-level stacks)
The Internet Archive Doesn't Forget, Whereas the Internet and the Web Forget Very Fast

World Wide Web history is grossly undervalued and preservation of such history (e.g. by the Wayback Machine) is taken for granted by far too many people; the robber barons of today benefit the most from erosion of collective memory as they get to rewrite the past to suit their present and future interests
Environmentalism and Free Software Can be Viewed as Closely Connected and Help One Another

Modest lifestyles are an overlapping pattern in the Free software community and green activists; there's room for alliances and collaboration, bettering society by reducing consumption and discouraging voyeurism