iB::Topic::licensing

	Damn Small Linux :: Damn Small Linux Board The DSL Forums

» Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]

Damn Small Linux Board » Non-DSL Topics » Linux and Free Software » licensing

		Mini-ITX Boards Sale, Fanless BareBones Mini-ITX, Bootable 1G DSL USBs, 533MHz Fanless PC <-- SALE $200 each!
		Get The Official Damn Small Linux Book. DSL Market , Great VPS hosting provided by Tektonic

Pages: (3) </ 1 [2] 3 >/

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Topic: licensing, couple questions

< Next Oldest | Next Newest >

spark-o-matic Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 68
Joined: Jan. 2008

Posted: Nov. 08 2008,16:15

Great, Thanks curaga!

--------------
The smartest person is not the person who knows the most.
The smartest person is the one who knows which book to look in.
Community knowledge can be the sum of it's knowledge or the sum of it's ignorance
The Definition of a 'Brain Fart':
When something comes out of my brain that Stinks!

roberts

Group: Members
Posts: 4983
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: Nov. 08 2008,16:19

But you can't upstream John's promise. If you make GPL binaries available to the public, be it free or for a fee, then you have to provide the source and not just refer them. Several projects were is violation of the GPL when they in fact did not themselves have the source.

curaga

Group: Members
Posts: 2163
Joined: Feb. 2007

Posted: Nov. 08 2008,16:43

I remembered reading this GPLv2 FAQ entry:

Quote

What does “written offer valid for any third party” mean in GPLv2? Does that mean everyone in the world can get the source to any GPL'ed program no matter what?

If you choose to provide source through a written offer, then anybody who requests the source from you is entitled to receive it.

If you commercially distribute binaries not accompanied with source code, the GPL says you must provide a written offer to distribute the source code later. When users non-commercially redistribute the binaries they received from you, they must pass along a copy of this written offer. This means that people who did not get the binaries directly from you can still receive copies of the source code, along with the written offer.

The reason we require the offer to be valid for any third party is so that people who receive the binaries indirectly in that way can order the source code from you.

http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesWrittenOfferValid

I am not sure if this applies here, I'll leave it to those who are more adept in GPL.

--------------
There's no such thing as life. Those mean little jocks invented it ;)
-
Windows is not a virus. A virus does something!

curaga

Group: Members
Posts: 2163
Joined: Feb. 2007

Posted: Nov. 08 2008,16:51

Well, section 3 of GPLv2 says:

Quote

3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

This is partly different with that FAQ entry and confuses me even more; but to me it looks you actually could pass on the offer. Yet I'm unsure whether this is uncommercial distribution; you do donate the cds for free, but for the auctioners it's commercial..

--------------
There's no such thing as life. Those mean little jocks invented it ;)
-
Windows is not a virus. A virus does something!

WDef

Group: Members
Posts: 798
Joined: Sep. 2005

Posted: Nov. 08 2008,18:51

Quote

to me it looks you actually could pass on the offer.

Does look that way. That might explain why I thought I read somewhere that it is sufficient to provide a link to the sources if redistributing GPL'd binaries non-commercially - that might be so if the link in fact constitues an "offer".

But as I recall from an older thread it was argued this was not the case.

It does seem like bollocks for everybody to go around distributing the same unchanged sources for unchanged binaries.

14 replies since Nov. 06 2008,01:31

< Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Pages: (3) </ 1 [2] 3 >/

Damn Small Linux Board » Non-DSL Topics » Linux and Free Software » licensing