From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 1158e3,c9f2b97a84c48976 X-Google-Attributes: gid1158e3,public X-Google-Thread: 101deb,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid101deb,public X-Google-Thread: 1073c2,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid1073c2,public X-Google-Thread: 10a146,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid10a146,public X-Google-Thread: fdb77,c9f2b97a84c48976 X-Google-Attributes: gidfdb77,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-06-18 14:34:03 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!cyclone2.usenetserver.com!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsmaster1.prod.itd.earthlink.net!newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B2E7263.9080804@earthlink.net> From: Charles Hixson User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:0.9.1) Gecko/20010607 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,ccomp.lang.clarion,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.pl1,comp.lang.vrml,comp.lang.java.advocacy Subject: Re: Market pressures for more reliable software References: <9g7r02$mni$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9g840k$qjt$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <40gfitgrvd8cgu27r3vfib6eptmapb3pfl@4ax.com> <9g8lrk$37c$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <9ganmu$pj5$1@nh.pace.co.uk> <3B2E2261.303FE952@easystreet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 21:29:35 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.94.156.19 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net 992899775 198.94.156.19 (Mon, 18 Jun 2001 14:29:35 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 14:29:35 PDT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net X-Received-Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 14:27:30 PDT (newsmaster1.prod.itd.earthlink.net) Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:8872 comp.lang.java.programmer:77223 comp.lang.pl1:1094 comp.lang.vrml:3868 comp.lang.java.advocacy:21412 Date: 2001-06-18T21:29:35+00:00 List-Id: Al Christians wrote: > Ted Dennison wrote: > >>Since the >>military requires the sources anyway, and refuses to give out the >>software in most cases, they are quite compatabile with the GPL. >> > > That's a curious one. GPL says: > > "If ... conditions are imposed on you ... that contradict the conditions > of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of > this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously > your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, > then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all." > > This would appear to make it impossible, for example for a military > contractor that 'distributes' its products to military customers to > include GPL code in a weapons system that was under security > restrictions, or for one country to license military technology > that included GPL code to another country with any restrictions on > to whom the weapons could be re-sold. And is hurling a projectile > that contains embedded software 'redistribution'? > > > Al > The owner of the copyright has all necessary rights to do whatever he feels like with it. GPL is one manifestation of this, and explicitly allows one to release it under other licenses. OTOH, if you mean that including GPL code written by others would be a problem, only those who are have a legitimate binary copy have the right to require source code, and the only person/company obligated to supply them with the source code is the person/company that they got the binary from. The only time this becomes at all questionable is when military equiment is decomissioned. In that case they might be required to either remove the binary code or to distribute the source. OTOH, I believe that the current understanding is that having an embedded module that contains binary code is not the same as having the source code unless it contains some method for dumping the code. But I'm less than certain about that. -- Charles Hixson Copy software legally, the GNU way! Use GNU software, and legally make and share copies of software. See http://www.gnu.org http://www.redhat.com http://www.linux-mandrake.com http://www.calderasystems.com/ http://www.linuxapps.com/