Change project licence?

[Ben Finney]

Kryptxy via Python-list <python-list at python.org> writes:

> I have an opensource (python) project under GPL3 licence.

Is the license “GNU GPLv3 only”, or “GNU GPL v3 or later”, or something
else? It doesn't materially affect the question, but it will make the
discussion easier if we know what is the actual license grant.

I will assume the grant of license is “GNU GPLv3 or later”.

> I wish switch to MIT licence

You may wish that. Who else holds copyright in that work? Their
contributions – whether prior to or concurrent with or later than your
contributions – are presumably licensed to you only under the GNU
GPLv3-or-later.

> so as to make it more permissive.

So, it is a deliberate feature of that license grant that no-one who
redistributes the work, whether modified or not, can restrict the
freedoms granted by that license. How do you know that every other
copyright holder wishes to abandon that feature now?

> I know how to change the licence, but I want to know is it fine and
> wise to change the licence at this point? (The project already has 19
> clones, 250+ GitHub stars. Here: https://github.com/kryptxy/torrench)

Those represent a whole lot of recipients, who received GPLv3-or-later
license grant, guaranteeing the freedom of the work for all recipients
in all modified forms. I would consider it poor form to allow non-free
redistribution at this point.

-- 
 \           “[W]hoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you |
  `\                                                unjust.” —Voltaire |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney