Re: GPL question, can open source code can be used to prop. platform?
From: Bill Unruh (unruh_at_string.physics.ubc.ca)
Date: 07/28/04
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Date: 28 Jul 2004 00:02:43 GMT
Michael Heiming <michael+USENET@www.heiming.de> writes:
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]In comp.os.linux.networking Bill Unruh <unruh@string.physics.ubc.ca> suggested:
]> huge@ukmisc.org.uk (Huge) writes:
]> ]General Schvantzkoph <schvantzkoph@yahoo.com> writes:
]> ]>On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 12:01:46 -0700, Santa wrote:
]> ]>
]> ]>> Well, if I burned binary into firewall box (into flash), if I sell
]> ]>> that box, do I have to provide the source to the customer?. These
]> ]>> boxes if I sell in every electronic shop, how can I provide source
]> ]>> code?.
]> ]>
]> ]>You must provide the source code but it doesn't have to be in the box.
]> ]>Putting the source code on your website is sufficient.
]> ]>
]> ]Except that the FSF think it isn't.
]> Where do they state this thought? What do they think is sufficient? Anyway,
]> it is by now up to the courts, if anyone wants to take the case to court.
]> Their thoughts are irrelevant except as encoded in the GPL.
]Seems to be answered in the gpl FAQ:
]"I want to distribute binaries without accompanying sources. Can I
]provide source code by FTP instead of by mail order?
]You're supposed to provide the source code by mail-order on a
]physical medium, if someone orders it. You are welcome to offer
]people a way to copy the corresponding source code by FTP, in
]addition to the mail-order option, but FTP access to the source
]is not sufficient to satisfy section 3 of the GPL.
I am sorry but nowhere in the GPL does it state "You are supposed to
provide source code by mail-order." What is says is
"on a medium customarily used for software interchange". FTP, html, etc are
"customarily used for software interchange." The internet is a medium.
I think the above section of the FAQ may have been written in 1990, when
ftp or http were not as ubiquitous as now. Perhaps I should send anyone who
asks for the source code, it on 8 inch floppies. That was after all a
medium "customarily used for software interchange" in 1980.
]When a user orders the source, you have to make sure to get the
]source to that user. If a particular user can conveniently get
]the source from you by anonymous FTP, fine--that does the job.
]But not every user can do such a download. The rest of the users
]are just as entitled to get the source code from you, which means
]you must be prepared to send it to them by post.
Nuts. What if the person has no floppies or cdreaders?
" a medium customarily used for software interchange" does not mean
"a medium specified by the customer".
]If the FTP access is convenient enough, perhaps no one will
]choose to mail-order a copy. If so, you will never have to ship
]one. But you cannot assume that.
]Of course, it's easiest to just send the source with the binary
]in the first place."
Yes, by ftp or http.
][http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DistributeWithSourceOnInternet]
]Sounds pretty clear.
]Recently a German court ruled in favor of GPL, wasn't a
]primary/important court, so it doesn't mean much, but a sign.;)
I do not dispute the validity of the GPL. I dispute the validity of the
FAQ's interpretation of the GPL.
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