GPL (was: [Fwd: [WBEL-devel] Rebuilt Progeny RPMs for RHL 7.2/7.3/8.0])

[Chris Spencer]

On Fri, 2004-01-16 at 14:46, Axel Thimm wrote:

> All true, but the last, if the product is made _publicly_ available,
> like RHEL3, Progeny update services etc.

It's not _publicly_ available.  They only owe source code to those
people that have purchased it.

The people that have done so are free to give that source code away but
they have no promise to subsequent binary releases.

No law or license says you have to do business with someone.

> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html

No where here does it say what you claim.

In fact it says:
The GPL says that modified versions, if released, must be "licensed ...
to all third parties." Who are these third parties?

Section 2 says that modified versions you distribute must be licensed to
all third parties under the GPL. "All third parties" means absolutely
everyone--but this does not require you to *do* anything physically for
them. It only means they have a license from you, under the GPL, for
your version. 
----

Which means that you can't go after someone for using something you
made/released once they have it.  If they have the software, it's legal
for them to have it.  Not only that once they have it you are required
to make the source available to them.  IE:  They have the right to
redistribute the binaries once they have them as well as the source.

It still doesn't say you have to give any updates to them and if they
can't provide proof that they have have the new binaries (with a written
notice, that is included with the binaries) you don't have to give the
source.

Eventually you may have to give the source out but you can legally delay
that process enough to make sure that anyone using updates not obtained
from you are vulnerable for awhile.

This part comes from the GPL section 3 letter b where it reads:
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,
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html)

The point here again is these companies are playing nice and if enough
people erode enough of the money they will stop playing nice.  They are
under no obligation, although unlike the entertainment industry they
don't want to harass their customers.

and again...people that want free updates ought to be contributing to
the process.  This is the place to do that.

-Chris

"Why, of course, the people don't want war... Voice or no voice, the
people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders... All you
have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It
works the same in any country." - Nazi Hermann Goering, at the Nuremberg
war-crimes tribunal