On the boundaries of GPL enforcement
First, let me say that, in general, a) I support the idea and mission of the SFC, and b) I have never heard of Patrick McHardy prior to reading this article (and linked blog post). In addition, I &quot;have no dog in this fight&quot;, if you will.  (My only affiliation with SFC is as the owner of a company which has previously donated funds to them.  I don&#x27;t necessarily agree with them 100% but I do support their &quot;end goal&quot;.)<p>This article links to a recent SFC blog post, &quot;The Importance of Following Community-Oriented Principles in GPL Enforcement Work&quot; [0].  Upon reading that blog post, my first impression is that the SFC is attempting to get others to &quot;gang up&quot; on Patrick and pressure him into accepting their &quot;principles&quot;.<p>If my understanding -- that Patrick holds copyright to (at least some of) the netfilter code -- is correct, then Patrick is entitled to pursue any &quot;enforcement actions&quot; he wishes.  The SFC is arguing that their &quot;Principles&quot; is the <i>only</i> &quot;proper&quot; way to pursue compliance.  That, obviously, is not the case.  Patrick is under no obligation to the SFC, the netfilter core team, or the &quot;community&quot; to follow their self-imposed &quot;Principles&quot; or to do what the SFC wishes.<p>I&#x27;m not sure what the SFCs goal here is, other than to gain more support for their own &quot;Principles&quot; and get others to state that they&#x27;re &quot;right&quot;.  They&#x27;re trying to force their &quot;Principles&quot; on everyone and have now started publicly calling out individuals who don&#x27;t agree with them.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sfconservancy.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2016&#x2F;jul&#x2F;19&#x2F;patrick-mchardy-gpl-enforcement&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sfconservancy.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2016&#x2F;jul&#x2F;19&#x2F;patrick-mchardy-g...</a>