Re: gnat-3.10

[kenner@lab.ultra.nyu.edu (Richard Kenner)]

In article <m2oh8ydzt8.fsf@devo.ridgenet.net> Ronald Cole <ronald@ridgenet.net> writes:
>Under Section 3 of the GPL, it seems clear that once you distribute an
>object code work based on a GPL'd program, you must release the source
>code concurrently.

This is a common misconception.  See the FSF web pages for a more
detailed discussion of this issue.

In general, the GPL does not (and cannot) impose any requirement to
distribute anything at all, nor to make anything available in any way.

It imposes precisely two requirements: (1) to not put any restrictions
on redistribution and (2) to make sources available when something is
distributed in binary form.  The latter includes a requirement that
the fee for such distribution be limited to cost.  This is the only
requirement on limiting prices in the GPL and is because it would
otherwise be possible to effectively not provide the sources by
setting a very high price on them.

Here is Section 3 that you reference.  Note that there are options (a)
and (b) that would apply to your scenario.  You act as though (a) was
the only option.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  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.)

The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it.  For an executable work, complete source
code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
control compilation and installation of the executable.  However, as a
special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
itself accompanies the executable.

If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
compelled to copy the source along with the object code.