In his guest editorial about the RTLinux patent, Jerry Epplin makes the point that mixing a patent with GPL turns GPL into something that seems contrary to the intent of the creators of the GPL license.

Patents and GPL are like oil and water — when you mix them together, you end up with a slimy mess (as detailed in Epplin's article). Patented GPL code does allow everyone to read the source, but it doesn't provide the freedom to modify, use, and distribute the code freely — and so, the freedoms intended by GPL are severely constrained. This may be a violation of GPL — but if it is not, it seems to me that the GPL should be amended to explicitly prohibit the use of software patents.

Please read the article about the RTLinux Patent and post your comments here.

Thanks!

— Rick Lehrbaum

The Open RTLinux patent license grants programmers the right to use the patented method in GPL code without paying any fee. What is not granted is the “right” to escape from the GPL for free. Since GPL itself does not grant such a right, I don't see how this can be portrayed as contrary to either the spirit or the letter of the GPL. In fact, the only way one can construct such an argument is to use imprecise language: using “free” to mean both “GPL” and “without payment”. But the GPL is not a free lunch.

— Victor Yodaiken

 
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