Re: [tlug] linux in Japanese schools

[Godwin Stewart <godwin.stewart@example.com>]

On Sun, 7 Jan 2007 11:14:45 +0900 (JST), Curt Sampson
<cjs@example.com> wrote:

> It seems to me that you must grant further rights, beyond what you
> were given. You not only must give the end-user all of the GPL'd
> code, but also give him for free and grant him rights to redistribute
> any of your code that links to this GPL'd code.

Not so. You were granted all of those rights with the original software.

> So, for example, if I spend ten years writing a large, complex
> million-line application, and then link GNU readline into it before
> selling someone a binary, they then have the right to demand the
> source code for that entire application, and they can redistribute it
> freely.

Yes.

This said, as others have pointed out, you don't have to use a GPL'ed
library. There are libraries under other licences that you can use.

> Note that I'm not saying that this is wrong to do this; I feel that
> authors of code should be able to put any license on it that they
> want. I'm just saying that compelling someone to give away the
> product of their own efforts for free or not distirbute that product
> at all doesn't seem very much like "feedom" to me.

But the fact that you're entitled to use the software and its source in
the first place *is* freedom. The GPL is also ensuring that you grant
that same freedom to *your* users.

--
G. Stewart - godwin.stewart@example.com

Q: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office?
A: You do all of the work and the fat guy in the suit
   gets all the credit.

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