[okfn-discuss] GFDL updates, compatibility, and confusion

Tue May 13 18:25:38 UTC 2008

dear all,

I've been trying to figure out what is the current state of the
debate over (in)compatibility of ShareAlike licenses for data.
Does anyone here know what is the status of the revisions to the GNU
Free Documentaion License that were announced last December?

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:License_update
"[Wikimedia] Foundation requests that the GNU Free Documentation
License be modified in the fashion proposed by the FSF to allow
migration by mass collaborative projects to the Creative Commons
CC-BY-SA license"

I see a GFDL v2 discussion draft from September 2006:
http://www.fsf.org/news/gfdl-dd1.html that does not contain the
changes I've heard discussed (invariant sections, obligation to
transmit the license to derived or combined works) as needed. 

As i understand it, work was or is in progress on an updated version
of the GFDL that would be compatible with CC-BY-SA. Meanwhile CC-BY-SA
from 3.0 would allow the relicensing of a combined or derived work 
under a compatible license. But there aren't any listed here: 
http://creativecommons.org/compatiblelicenses

I know i'm late with this story, but the more i try to figure out
what's going on, the more confusing it all becomes. 
The lack of backstory about what the FSF agreed with Wikimedia 
and what has happened in the 6 months since the last announcements is
not helping ... enlightenment apprec.

jo
-- 