Refers to preventing modified versions of open source software from being used on the same hardware that the original version of the software came with. The term was coined by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation over Tivo's use of the GNU General Public License (Version 2) to cover the Linux operating system in the Tivo. Although the license gave users the right to modify Linux, by using digital signatures to identify the operating system, the only Linux that would run in the Tivo is the version that came with the unit. In Version 3 of the license, the Free Software Foundation added wording to prevent Tivoization. See Free Software Foundation, GNU General Public License and Tivo.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Linus vs. the GPLv3
- Linus vs. the GPLv3None of the aboveWhy is are there no "None of the above" and "Unsure" options? I would choose to license under GPLv2 because I don't care about TiVoization or however you write that. It is up to the consumers to limit their own freedom (they do, and...
- Discussion threads 2007-07-10
- Linus vs. the GPLv3
- Linus Torvalds is like my mama.As in, when mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy. (Picture from Wikimedia Commons.)Right now, Linus ain't happy, not at all. Especially about GPLv3. He considers the anti-Tivoization provisions in the new license, which keep you from crippling hardware containing software using the license, to...
- Blog posts 2007-07-10
- It's finished. It's done. GPVv3 that is.
- It's finished. It's done. GPVv3 that is.Non-legal commentaryHas anybody done a non-legalese commentary of the licence? I can't make head or tail of it.Yes, I will support GPLv3 in any way I can!I don't write enough code these days to be an influence on any project as a software author,...
- Discussion threads 2007-07-02
- It's finished. It's done. GPVv3 that is.
- Why is this GNU smiling?Because with a political flourish the Free Software Foundation has released the final versions of both GPLv3 and LGPLv3.IBM has given its blessing but there is, as yet, no white smoke rising from Portland, where Linus Torvalds has expressed his preference for GPLv2.The new license makes an...
- Blog posts 2007-07-02
- Tivo and GPL: Beauty and the Beast?
- In the ongoing battle between Linux kernel developers and the Free Software Foundation over the future of the GNU Public License, somehow DVR-maker Tivo has become either the whipping boy, or the poster child, depending on whose side you are on. FSF founder Richard Stallman even coined a term for...
- Blog posts 2006-10-02
- Torvalds should create a better GPL
- Torvalds should create a better GPLMust go partyYes, I just got back from an Oktoberfest party with friends in Denver, but the IPTV release party is tonight, and I will be swingdancing with the Brian Setzer orchestra.Yes, evil of me to post controversial things shortly before I head into San...
- Discussion threads 2006-09-29
Neighboring Terms
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