RMS question
Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I read everything I could find about the
matter on www.xemacs.org, and didn't find the answer:
On the Xemacs vs. GNU Emacs page, in the "FSF Point of View", RMS
writes:
But in another sense it is not GNU software, because we can't use
XEmacs in the GNU system: using it would mean paying a price in
terms of our ability to enforce the GPL. Some of the people who have
worked on XEmacs have not provided, and have not asked other
contributors to provide, the legal papers to help us enforce the GPL. I
have managed to get legal papers for some parts myself, but most of
the XEmacs developers have not helped me get them.
I'm genuinely confused as to what RMS is talking about... XEmacs is
GNU-derived software, and even says that it is protected by the GPL
all over it. So, what kind of "ability to enforce the GPL" is RMS
looking for that he doesn't already have?
I'm curious, because although I personally prefer XEmacs to GNU Emacs,
it bothers me that there might be some point of licensing which
prevents full sharing between XEmacs and GNU Emacs, so I'm wondering
if there is any weight to what RMS is talking about, and if so,
what can be done about it.
I'm not (yet) a member of this mailing list, so I would appreciate it
if I could be CC'ed on any discussion which follows.
cheers,
--Mirian