{ "model": { "rank": 3559, "code": "thing-q7603", "model_id": "vr.tr.gnu-general-public-license", "name": "GNU General Public License", "purpose": "Enable an agent to identify the GNU General Public License, resolve its applicable version and permissions, and assess the evidence needed before acting on a GPL-covered work.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Information and virtual systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "INF", "domain": "INF.MED", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q7603/", "tier": 2, "score": 84, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later", "GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later with library exception" ], "aliasCount": 2, "merged": 2, "knownIn": 84, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q7603", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7603", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:33:13Z", "providers": [ "Codex" ], "breadth": "recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read", "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "seconds": 29.6, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c48-613d-78c0-8b5b-2b91f9a49a03\n--------\nuser\nDescribe what is already known about one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: GNU General Public License\nSense to describe: (none recorded)\nDomain code: INF.MED\nAlso known as: (none)\n\n\nContext for this batch of 1001 things:\n# Batc", "usd": 0, "recall": true }, "codex": { "seconds": 80.5, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c48-6144-7953-8ead-7bd378242678\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: GNU General Public License\nRegistry id: vr.tr.gnu-general-public-license\nPlane / domain: INF / INF.MED\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames fol" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q7603", "registryId": "vr.tr.gnu-general-public-license", "name": "GNU General Public License", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "INF.MED" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q7603/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.gnu-general-public-license", "name": "GNU General Public License", "purpose": "Enable an agent to identify the GNU General Public License, resolve its applicable version and permissions, and assess the evidence needed before acting on a GPL-covered work.", "definition": "The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) is a family of free software copyright licenses published by the Free Software Foundation that grant rights to use, study, modify and redistribute software, with copyleft conditions governing distribution of covered software and modified versions.", "scope_statement": "This model owns vr.tr.gnu-general-public-license in INF / INF.MED as a family of versioned license texts and conditional grants, including their application to particular works; it distinguishes the license from the software, rights holders, and distribution events linked to it.", "in_scope": [ "GPL family identity, released versions, authoritative texts, and translations", "Version selection through a work's licensing notice", "Permissions, conditions, exceptions, and downstream licensing requirements", "Source provision and other obligations associated with particular activities", "Evidence supporting compliance, termination, and reinstatement assessments" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Software architecture, functionality, and release management except as evidence of license scope", "Independent models of the LGPL, AGPL, and permissive licenses", "Copyright ownership and contributor agreements beyond their relationship to a GPL grant", "General copyright doctrine and jurisdiction-specific litigation", "Physical devices and distribution infrastructure except where they affect obligations" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "The name must resolve to GNU GPL rather than GNU LGPL or GNU AGPL; the AGPL adds a network-interaction source provision requirement. [GNU license overview](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/)", "A version number alone does not establish whether later versions are permitted; the work's notice must distinguish a fixed version from an allowed later-version choice. [GNU guidance on identifying licenses](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/identify-licenses-clearly.html)", "GPL copyleft requires analysis of whether components form a covered combined work or remain a mere aggregate; sharing a distribution medium alone does not settle the boundary. [GNU GPL FAQ](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html)", "GPLv3 introduces version-specific provisions concerning installation information and patents, so family-level identification cannot substitute for reading the selected version. [GNU GPLv3 guide](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html.en)" ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "License text version", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "GPL-1.0; GPL-2.0; GPL-3.0; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Determines which text supplies the applicable definitions and conditions." }, { "name": "Version-selection permission", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Specified version only; specified version or later; no version specified; ambiguous notice", "why_it_matters": "Separates the published license version from the choices actually granted for a work." }, { "name": "Text authority", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Publisher-issued text; verified reproduction; explanatory translation; modified text; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Prevents a translation, commentary, or altered license from silently becoming the operative text." }, { "name": "Grant attachment", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Work or revision linked to licensing notice, granting rights holder, and supporting evidence", "why_it_matters": "A copy of a license file does not by itself resolve which material a grant covers." }, { "name": "Additional permission or exception", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Exact text linked to affected material, issuer, and applicable GPL version", "why_it_matters": "An exception may change the permitted action without changing the underlying GPL family identity." }, { "name": "Relevant activity", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Execution; private modification; source distribution; object-code distribution; network interaction; other or unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Supports activity-specific assessment instead of assuming every use produces identical obligations." }, { "name": "Source provision route", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Accompanying source; written offer; network access; other version-permitted route; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Connects the chosen route to its conditions and verification evidence." }, { "name": "Grant standing", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Unassessed; supported as active; possible violation; terminated; provisional reinstatement; permanent reinstatement; disputed", "why_it_matters": "Records the assessed position for a particular recipient and grant, with version-specific justification." }, { "name": "Obligation deadline", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Calendar date or duration in days or years, with triggering event and governing clause", "why_it_matters": "Makes source-offer and remedy obligations assessable without imposing one deadline across all versions." } ], "affordances": [ "Resolve a GPL reference to an authoritative version and preserve the evidence for that resolution.", "Compare a work's licensing notices with package-level declarations and flag inconsistent coverage.", "Evaluate a proposed distribution against version-specific conditions and identify missing evidence.", "Assess a proposed component combination using exact license terms and a documented work-boundary analysis.", "Prepare a source, notice, and installation-information review for a particular release.", "Track unresolved obligations and remedy evidence before reassessing permission to distribute." ] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "gpl-identity-and-version", "name": "GPL identity and version", "description": "Resolve the registered license family into the particular text relevant to an assessment.", "rationale": "GPL versions and permission to choose among them must remain explicit.", "layers": [ { "id": "authoritative-license-text", "name": "Authoritative license text", "description": "Distinguish a released GPL text from reproductions, translations, and explanations.", "findings": [ { "id": "text-and-authority", "name": "Text and authority", "description": "Record version, publisher provenance, language, and text identity separately from any file carrying the text.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which released GNU GPL text does this reference identify?", "kind": "definition", "id": "text-and-authority-q01" }, { "text": "What publisher source and text comparison establish that the retrieved document is an accurate copy?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "text-and-authority-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "permitted-version-selection", "name": "Permitted version selection", "description": "Resolve the choices granted by the covered work's own notice.", "findings": [ { "id": "notice-controls-version-choice", "name": "Notice controls version choice", "description": "Preserve the exact notice and distinguish the minimum named version from the version selected for an action.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the notice specify a version only, permit later versions, omit a version, or leave contradictory evidence?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "notice-controls-version-choice-q01" }, { "text": "Which version may be selected for the proposed action, and what notice language supports that choice?", "kind": "action", "id": "notice-controls-version-choice-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "grant-and-covered-material", "name": "Grant and covered material", "description": "Connect GPL terms to identifiable material and a supported licensing grant.", "rationale": "The license text and its application to a software work are distinct information objects.", "layers": [ { "id": "licensing-evidence", "name": "Licensing evidence", "description": "Establish which notices apply to which files, revisions, or components.", "findings": [ { "id": "grant-coverage-evidence", "name": "Grant coverage evidence", "description": "Retain file notices, release declarations, and rights-holder evidence without treating a repository label as complete proof.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which files, generated assets, and revisions are expressly covered by the GPL declaration?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "grant-coverage-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Who supplied the declaration, and what evidence supports their authority over the covered material?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "grant-coverage-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "exceptions-and-alternative-grants", "name": "Exceptions and alternative grants", "description": "Represent additional permissions and alternative licensing paths without flattening them into bare GPL.", "findings": [ { "id": "qualified-gpl-grant", "name": "Qualified GPL grant", "description": "Attach exact exception or alternative-grant text to its issuer, material, and version scope.", "questions": [ { "text": "What exception, additional permission, or alternative license is documented for this material?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "qualified-gpl-grant-q01" }, { "text": "How does that wording change the proposed action, and does it apply to every relevant contribution?", "kind": "action", "id": "qualified-gpl-grant-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "copyleft-boundary-and-compatibility", "name": "Copyleft boundary and compatibility", "description": "Assess the scope of a covered work and the licensing feasibility of combinations.", "rationale": "Copyleft decisions depend on concrete relationships between components and exact grants.", "layers": [ { "id": "combined-work-boundary", "name": "Combined work boundary", "description": "Capture the facts needed to distinguish modification, combination, and aggregation.", "findings": [ { "id": "component-relationship-assessment", "name": "Component relationship assessment", "description": "Treat technical integration as evidence for a documented boundary assessment, with unresolved legal interpretation recorded explicitly.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do the components link, exchange data, share structures, and depend on one another?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "component-relationship-assessment-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence supports treating the result as a covered combined work or a mere aggregate?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "component-relationship-assessment-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "combination-license-path", "name": "Combination license path", "description": "Evaluate a specific combination against the available versions and exceptions.", "findings": [ { "id": "compatible-distribution-terms", "name": "Compatible distribution terms", "description": "Record the proposed outbound terms and their justification for every component rather than assigning compatibility solely by license family.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which exact licenses, version choices, and exceptions govern the components being combined?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "compatible-distribution-terms-q01" }, { "text": "Can the proposed combination be distributed under terms satisfying all applicable grants, or is another permission required?", "kind": "action", "id": "compatible-distribution-terms-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "activity-and-delivery-obligations", "name": "Activity and delivery obligations", "description": "Translate a proposed activity into a version-specific delivery assessment.", "rationale": "An agent needs concrete triggers, recipients, and evidence to assess what must accompany a GPL-covered release.", "layers": [ { "id": "activity-trigger", "name": "Activity trigger", "description": "Classify the transaction using the selected version's terminology.", "findings": [ { "id": "recipient-and-transfer", "name": "Recipient and transfer", "description": "Record who receives copies and in what form, distinguishing copy transfer from execution or network interaction.", "questions": [ { "text": "Who receives a copy, through which transaction, and as source or object code?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "recipient-and-transfer-q01" }, { "text": "Which clauses of the selected GPL version apply to this activity?", "kind": "action", "id": "recipient-and-transfer-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "source-and-notice-delivery", "name": "Source and notice delivery", "description": "Check the release-specific materials and the selected source provision route.", "findings": [ { "id": "delivery-evidence", "name": "Delivery evidence", "description": "Assess source completeness, license and change notices, delivery access, and any applicable GPLv3 Installation Information condition.", "questions": [ { "text": "Does the supplied source correspond to the delivered binary and include the materials required by the selected version?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "delivery-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What notices, source-offer terms, availability periods, and installation information must accompany this transaction?", "kind": "action", "id": "delivery-evidence-q02" }, { "text": "What recipient-access checks establish that the selected delivery route actually works?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "delivery-evidence-q03" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "restrictions-and-grant-standing", "name": "Restrictions and grant standing", "description": "Assess conflicting terms and maintain an evidence-based account of permission status.", "rationale": "Meeting source-delivery requirements alone does not settle every GPL condition or restore a terminated grant.", "layers": [ { "id": "conflicting-obligations", "name": "Conflicting obligations", "description": "Examine surrounding agreements and technical controls against the selected text.", "findings": [ { "id": "downstream-restriction-review", "name": "Downstream restriction review", "description": "Record potentially conflicting contractual, patent, or technical conditions and identify the relevant version-specific analysis.", "questions": [ { "text": "Do accompanying agreements, patent arrangements, or device controls constrain recipients' exercise of the applicable GPL permissions?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "downstream-restriction-review-q01" }, { "text": "Which terms or controls must change before the proposed distribution can satisfy the selected GPL version?", "kind": "action", "id": "downstream-restriction-review-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "termination-and-remedy", "name": "Termination and remedy", "description": "Track alleged violations, corrective actions, and the basis for any reinstatement assessment.", "findings": [ { "id": "permission-status-evidence", "name": "Permission status evidence", "description": "Maintain status per relevant grant and recipient, with notices, dates, remedy evidence, and unresolved disputes.", "questions": [ { "text": "What conduct, dates, and communications support the current assessment of the grant's standing?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "permission-status-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Under the applicable version, what further corrective action or rights-holder permission is needed before distribution resumes?", "kind": "action", "id": "permission-status-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes", "name": "Check these first", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "This describes the license family; a particular software work's licensing depends on its stated version, any or-later permission, and applicable exceptions.", "Recall only: no sources were consulted; application to particular distribution, linking or deployment arrangements requires checking the relevant license text and facts.", "The boundary between separate works and a covered combined or derivative work is context-sensitive and should not be inferred solely from technical packaging." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes-q01", "text": "Which of these check these first hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "GNU GPL version 1", "GNU GPL version 2", "GNU GPL version 3" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-1.0-only", "note": "Identifies licensing under GPL version 1 only." }, { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-1.0-or-later", "note": "Identifies permission to use GPL version 1 or a later version." }, { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-2.0-only", "note": "Identifies licensing under GPL version 2 only." }, { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-2.0-or-later", "note": "Identifies permission to use GPL version 2 or a later version." }, { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-3.0-only", "note": "Identifies licensing under GPL version 3 only." }, { "scheme": "SPDX License List", "value_or_pattern": "GPL-3.0-or-later", "note": "Identifies permission to use GPL version 3 or a later version." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "GNU General Public License versions 1, 2 and 3 - license texts published by the Free Software Foundation.", "SPDX License List and license expression syntax - maintained by the SPDX project for identifying licenses and expressing licensing choices." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Licensing free software, including GNU project software.", "Licensing the Linux kernel under GPL version 2 only, with explicitly documented exceptions.", "Redistributing modified software while preserving recipients' rights under the applicable GPL terms.", "Commercial distribution of software, including sales of copies and associated support.", "Recording software licensing in package metadata and software bills of materials." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Distributing binaries without satisfying the applicable version's corresponding source requirements.", "Removing required copyright notices or failing to provide required license notices and text.", "Combining or distributing code under incompatible licensing terms.", "Confusing a version-only grant with an or-later grant, or assuming all GPL versions are interchangeable.", "Assuming private modification requires public release, or assuming ordinary GPL licensing requires source disclosure merely because software is operated as a network service." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Copyright law and judicial interpretation vary by jurisdiction and can affect enforcement and the treatment of combined or modified works.", "Warranty exclusions and liability limitations operate subject to applicable local law.", "The Free Software Foundation treats translations as unofficial; the English text states the authoritative distribution terms." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "name": "GNU Lesser General Public License", "difference": "Provides additional permissions allowing certain combinations with non-LGPL software, subject to conditions; ordinary GPL copyleft is more restrictive for such combinations." }, { "name": "GNU Affero General Public License", "difference": "Adds a source-offer requirement for users interacting remotely with a modified covered program over a network." }, { "name": "MIT License", "difference": "Is a permissive software license without the GPL's requirement to license covered distributed modifications under copyleft terms." }, { "name": "GNU Free Documentation License", "difference": "Is designed for documentation and other textual works, whereas the GPL is principally designed for software." }, { "name": "GPL-licensed software", "difference": "Is a work governed by the license; the GNU GPL itself is the reusable legal text defining permissions and conditions." }, { "name": "Copyleft", "difference": "Is a general licensing approach; the GNU GPL is a specific family of licenses implementing it." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of GNU General Public License this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does the existing Vercy catalogue already contain an authoritative GPL model or software-license model that this registry entry should reference?", "Which authoritative GPLv1, GPLv2, and GPLv3 texts and translation-status records should anchor the publication's clause-level evidence?", "How should the model represent jurisdiction-dependent combined-work assessments when technical evidence does not settle the legal boundary?", "What evidence threshold should distinguish an agent's provisional compliance assessment from a rights-holder-confirmed resolution?", "How should contradictory file notices, missing version declarations, and partially documented exceptions remain actionable without inventing permission?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 29 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "work, medium or creative form", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a GNU General Public License, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an agent to identify the GNU General Public License, resolve its applicable version and permissions, and assess the evidence needed before acting on a GPL-covered work.", "characteristics": { "substance": "information", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "read and interpreted", "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later, GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later with library exception.", "2 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 84 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a GNU General Public License, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "content that has to be carried by something else", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "read it and act on what it says", "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "What is seen is a copy or a performance, not the work. Recognising the work means recognising the content through whatever is carrying it." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later", "GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later with library exception" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 84 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 2 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one GNU General Public License from another, and a GNU General Public License from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a GNU General Public License sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a GNU General Public License from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a GNU General Public License passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a GNU General Public License between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a GNU General Public License, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a GNU General Public License is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "content-and-access", "name": "Content, encoding and access", "description": "What a GNU General Public License says, how it is encoded and who may read it.", "rationale": "An informational thing carries content that can be copied, versioned and withheld, none of which its physical carrier explains.", "layers": [ { "id": "content-and-encoding", "name": "Content and encoding", "description": "The content itself, its format and its language.", "findings": [ { "id": "content-and-format", "name": "Content, format and language", "description": "What a GNU General Public License contains and in what form it is held.", "questions": [ { "id": "content-and-format-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the content of a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the content of a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the content of a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "access-and-rights", "name": "Access, rights and retention", "description": "Who may read, copy or change it, and for how long it is kept.", "findings": [ { "id": "access-rules", "name": "Access rules and retention", "description": "The permissions attached to a GNU General Public License and the period it survives.", "questions": [ { "id": "access-rules-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes access to a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about access to a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once access to a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "work-and-manifestation", "name": "Work, version and copy", "description": "Which level of GNU General Public License a statement is about.", "rationale": "The work, the edition, the file and the copy in hand are four things; rights and content attach to different ones.", "layers": [ { "id": "levels", "name": "Levels of the thing", "description": "Work, expression, manifestation and item, in plain terms.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs at each level", "description": "Which facts hold for the work and which only for one copy.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "For GNU General Public License, which facts belong to the work itself, which to a version, and which to a single copy?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifier exists at each level, and which one is being cited?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "versions", "name": "Versions, editions and variants", "description": "How versions differ and which is canonical to whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "version-record", "name": "Versions and canonicity", "description": "Differences that matter and who calls one authoritative.", "questions": [ { "id": "version-record-q01", "text": "Which versions or editions of GNU General Public License exist, and how do they differ substantively?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "version-record-q02", "text": "Who treats which version as authoritative, and for what purpose?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "authorship-and-rights", "name": "Authorship, rights and permitted use", "description": "Who made GNU General Public License and what may be done with it.", "rationale": "Rights are jurisdictional, time-limited and attached to a level, and an agent that ignores that will copy what it may not.", "layers": [ { "id": "authorship", "name": "Authorship and contribution", "description": "Who contributed what, and in what capacity.", "findings": [ { "id": "contribution-record", "name": "Contributors and roles", "description": "The people and bodies behind it, with their roles.", "questions": [ { "id": "contribution-record-q01", "text": "Who authored or contributed to GNU General Public License, in what roles, and how is that attested?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "contribution-record-q02", "text": "Where authorship is disputed or anonymous, what is recorded instead?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rights", "name": "Rights and permissions", "description": "Which rights subsist, where, until when, and what they permit.", "findings": [ { "id": "rights-record", "name": "Rights, term and permitted acts", "description": "The regime in force and what it allows.", "questions": [ { "id": "rights-record-q01", "text": "What rights subsist in GNU General Public License, in which jurisdictions, and until when?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "rights-record-q02", "text": "Which acts are permitted without further permission, and which must an agent refuse?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a GNU General Public License came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a GNU General Public License and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a GNU General Public License is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a GNU General Public License, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a GNU General Public License, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a GNU General Public License is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }