Re: [tlug] GPL and Open Source Licences

[Pietro Zuco <maillist@example.com>]

On Friday 31 December 2004 12:28, simon colston wrote:
> OK, so let's say I sell the program and the source to one customer under
> the GPL.  I understand that under the GPL the customer *can* copy,
> modify and make the source public but is that customer _obliged_ to do
> so?  Can the source be kept secret between me and my one and only
> customer for this program? Or, can anyone write to my customer and force
> them to give them a copy of the source because it is licenced under the
> GPL?
I just do not understad very well what you want to say. The hypothetical 
situation is:
Simon-san made a GPL software. He share the program with his friend Tux-san.
Some day Tux-san ask about the source code. Simon-san do not want to give him 
the source code. Tux-san get angry and demand Simon-san.
The judge will force Simon-san to give the source code to Tux-san or not?

Is this the situation you are thinking of?

> I can see that the GPL is great for a program with many, many users.

Two users can be viewed as many users ;-)

> You create a community around the program and everyone contributes, more
> eyes looking for problems is a good thing.  But when a program is
> written specifically for use by one user/organization only, then there
> are very few benefits in that program being licenced under the GPL.

-Software for just one user, the programmer:
You can use it at your home to do your mysterious calculations, and you don't 
want to share it. In that case I think you do not have to think about the GPL 
or any other licence. If you never share the code, binary or source, it's 
just like your program had never existed. Now we can enter in a philosophical 
discussion about, is something existing just because some people is seeing it 
or the thing just exist by itself?... Anyway I think that you do not have to 
worry about software that you use for your own and that you don't have plans 
to share.

- Organization
I think that in an organization the important think is the data. If the 
company protect the data, closing the software have no sense. Anyway I can 
understand that maybe you do not want to share some algorithm that can be the 
base of your business. In that case, if you are not planning to share this 
code outside the organization, you can close it, but you do not have to use a 
GPL licence if you want, for example,  to demand an employee just because 
he/she is distributing the code.
But if some day you want to export this code outside the organization, I 
encourage you to made it available by the GPL licence, so the humanity can 
benefit of your work and so you can contribute to make this a better 
world :-)

> In 
> my opinion the source *should* be made available to the
> user/organization who are using the program - if they decide they don't
> like me they can get someone else to fix their program in the future -
> but making the source public serves no purpose at all, as far as I can see.

In this case we return to the Simon-san and Tux-san situation. Can you deny to 
give the source code?
I don't know the answer. Someone knows?

-Pietro-


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- Pietro Zuco
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