I've seen discussion of #gpl / #copyleft versus #bsd licences in the context of proprietary relicencing recently but unless I’m misunderstanding something it seems like a red herring.

Copyleft is meant to ensure that non-copyright-holders only gain rights if they comply with certain conditions. But the relicencing problem is about the behaviour of the copyright holder.

In either case, the owner can relicence the software as they see fit; and in either case, previous versions remain available.

If you see the AGPL licenses on my free and open source work and you think “damn you, I can’t use this to enrich myself or my corporation without sharing back what I’ve built on top of what you’ve freely shared and thus contribute to cultivating a healthy commons where others might enjoy the same benefits from my work that I want to obtain from yours” (a) you really have long-winded thoughts and (b) well, you already see the flaw in your reasoning.

#foss #licenses #freedom #copyleft #gpl