Re: GCC 4.3 license in manual still under GPLv2

[Mark Mitchell <mark at codesourcery dot com>]

Joseph S. Myers wrote:

> > In that message, you suggest that we need the local changes in order to
> > generate a gpl.7 manual page.  But, why do we need such a manual page? What
> > would be the adverse consequences of just replacing our gpl.texi with the FSF
> > GPLv3 version?
>
> The manual page is needed to follow the instructions from the FSF about 
> how to handle invariant sections in the manual when a subset of the manual 
> is made into a manpage <http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2001-11/msg00311.html>.

How about we just drop the manual pages, then?

Right now, we're in the situation where the manual is deceptive.  If the 
manual talks about GPLv2, a user might rely on that.  We should be 
making the license unambiguous so that users do not feel deceived.  If 
we don't have the bandwidth to mess with all the bits required here, 
then maybe we should just stop providing man pages.  For something as 
big and complex as GCC, info/HTML/PDF all seem like better media.

--
Mark Mitchell
CodeSourcery
mark@codesourcery.com
(650) 331-3385 x713