Sorry Tivo - GPL3 Looks Good From Here
Tivo apparently doesn’t like the upcoming version of the GPL, General Public License, version 3 according to anInformation Week article.
Tivo is cool and has geek appeal since it is uses Linux-based software. The major appeal for those who want to hack at it - and in this case, I’m using the traditional definition of “one who tinkers with software”, not “one who breaks in” - is that the GPL requires anyone who distributes GPL code to release their source code. This means that if you take GPL code, hack at it and make it “better” or add to it you must release all your changes if you distribute the modified code. Unfortunately, Tivo wants to take code that they got for free, lock it up and sell it to you with no way for you to make changes. Worse is building it so that it doesn’t work if you alter the code at all. That is really not the spirit behind the GPL.
Here’s the thing Tivo: If you want to take our free code and modify it you have to abide by the license in the code you receive. Your company is already in trouble with geeks. A cool appliance device that runs Linux-based software had the geek appeal for a while. Try to shut us out and we build MythTV boxes instead (not to mention the possible copyright infringement suits you will face if you violate our license).
Groklaw.net review of GPL 3.
