[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] G722 decoder

[David Conrad]

On Mar 23, 2009, at 3:13 PM, John Lange wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-03-23 at 11:48 -0400, David Conrad wrote:
>>>> while FFmpeg is LGPL 2.1 or later.
>
>> If you feel strongly about "or later" you probably shouldn't be using
>> LGPL in the first place, since it includes a clause that explicitly
>> allows relicensing to any newer version of the GPL that has been
>> released.
>
> If that were the case, then the words "or later" would be irrelevant.
>
> However, in my reading of the LGPL v2.1 I don't see that wording.
>
> Section 13 mentions what the words "or later" mean and also what  
> version
> applies if no version is specified (any) but does not give you the  
> right
> to re-licensed to any version you want.

 From LGPL v2.1 section 3:

> You may opt to apply the terms of the ordinary GNU General Public  
> License instead of this License to a given copy of the Library. To  
> do this, you must alter all the notices that refer to this License,  
> so that they refer to the ordinary GNU General Public License,  
> version 2, instead of to this License. (If a newer version than  
> version 2 of the ordinary GNU General Public License has appeared,  
> then you can specify that version instead if you wish.) Do not make  
> any other change in these notices.
>
> Once this change is made in a given copy, it is irreversible for  
> that copy, so the ordinary GNU General Public License applies to all  
> subsequent copies and derivative works made from that copy.

I don't think that that's legally equivalent to "GPL v2 or later"  
since the "or later" is not a part of the actual license, but I could  
be wrong. Either way, it has the same effect of allowing distribution  
of the code under a license that doesn't exist yet, which I believe is  
the main problem with the standard "or later".