[Foundation-l] Wikibooks NL is changing License

Fri Mar 23 13:45:51 UTC 2007

> The edit (the diff) is not the same thing as the resulting
> (derivate) work.
>
> Suppose somebody named Richard M. Stallman has written a fine
> manual (under GFDL) for the GCC compiler.  I write on my own
> website a little text called "some personal comments on the GCC
> compiler".  I have full copyright to my own original text, but I
> decide to dual license it under CC-SA-BY and GFDL.  Later RMS
> decides to include my text as a chapter in the GCC manual.  He can
> do this because it is licensed under GFDL.  But another person can
> reuse my text in another context based on its CC-SA-BY license.
> In the editing history of the GCC manual, the addition of my text
> is one step, "one edit", one contribution.  This contribution is
> apparently dual licensed.  But the GCC manual, both before and
> after this edit, is still only GFDL licensed.  That's not a
> contradiction.

That analogy doesn't work since RMS is the original copyright holder,
so he can modify his work however he likes. If someone else tried to
merge his work and yours, then things get a little more confusing.