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: 1073c2,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid1073c2,public X-Google-Thread: 10a146,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid10a146,public X-Google-Thread: 101deb,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid101deb,public X-Google-Thread: fdb77,c9f2b97a84c48976 X-Google-Attributes: gidfdb77,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,23963231b5359f74 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-06-20 08:49:05 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsmaster1.prod.itd.earthlink.net!newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B30C5E6.9000107@earthlink.net> From: Charles Hixson User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:0.9.1+) Gecko/20010619 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> <3B2E7263.9080804@earthlink.net> <3B2E7F5F.69C0510C@easystreet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 15:49:06 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.94.156.19 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net 993052146 198.94.156.19 (Wed, 20 Jun 2001 08:49:06 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 08:49:06 PDT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net X-Received-Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 08:46:57 PDT (newsmaster1.prod.itd.earthlink.net) Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:8921 comp.lang.java.programmer:77585 comp.lang.pl1:1102 comp.lang.vrml:3885 comp.lang.java.advocacy:21500 Date: 2001-06-20T15:49:06+00:00 List-Id: Al Christians wrote: >> Al Christians wrote: >> >> only those who are have a legitimate binary copy have the right >> to require source code >> > > My understanding is that once a work has been released under GPL, all > copies are legitimate, source and/or binary. You must allow it > to be licensed to any and all third parties without any conditions beyond > those in the GPL. There's a new FAQ a few weeks ago from FSF on GPL > that explains some of these issues. > > > Al > Umn... not precisely. Anyone you give or sell a copy to has the right to further release it, but that doesn't make all copies legitimate. You could give it to a business associate for use in some project, and someone could steal it from him, or someone could break into your computer and steal a copy. These would not be legitimate copies. If they were to be distributed further, the holder could be required to provide source, but would not necessarily have any access to the appropriate source. OTOH, practically speaking, anything which is widely distributed under the GPL has legitimate copies available to anyone. P.S.: Steal in this case simply means acquiring a copy illegally. E.g., a piece of software could be licensed GPL, but only be used internally in an organization (i.e., no public release). And an employee who did not have the right to do so could e-mail it to an external associate. No malice need be involved. For that matter, I don't even assume any damages beyond the assumption of the requirement to make source available. My statement is that there is no such requirement. The employee didn't have the right to distribute it, so the copy is illegitimate. And the firm doesn't have to keep the unchanged source on file for three years (presuming the source wasn't distributed with or instead of the binary). Now IANAL, so there are lots of special cases in here that depend on points of law that I have no knowledge of. But that's the broad outline. -- 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/