[Fsfe-ie] Re: gpl and web scripting

[David O'Callaghan]

Hi all,

Let me say that this email is quite pedantic. Treat this as a bit of
diabolical advocacy.

Dé Domh, 2003-10-26 ag 00:12, scríobh Niall Douglas:
> As Ciaran has said, if his derived work does not leave the server 
> then he isn't distributing it and thus doesn't need to release the 
> source. I, unlike the FSF, don't see a problem with that as he 
> couldn't give it to anyone else so there's no real risk for 
> commercial exploitation.

I don't think the FSF would see a problem with that either. What do you
mean by "he couldn't give it to anyone else"?

> If he is distributing it, he must distribute all parts of the 
> software in source form and must attach GPL license notices 
> unmodified etc etc. However, his extensions may not need to be also 
> under the GPL depending on certain factors, but whatever license he 
> does use must be compatible with GPL stipulations.

The GPL doesn't imply that "he must distribute all parts of the software
in source form": it's perfectly fine to distribute binaries and make the
source available on an FTP server somewhere, would you agree?

The original message said "someone downloads the code and changes it" so
these modifications would have to be under the GPL. If the changes
consisted of implementing a plug-in interface, it's possible that the
same person might also write a plug-in library that would not be covered
by the GPL.

Regards,

David