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Re: Legal stuf, GPL, ...




Aviram Jenik <aviram@jenik.com> writes:

> You all mentioned that I 'must' publish the source code if I use a GPL
> source code in my app. How hard must I work to publish this code? 

Look it up at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Excerpt:

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.)

> Is it enough to:
> 1. Write 'if you want the source code e-mail me' in the installation file or
> the docs?

This looks to me compatible with 3b above. 

> 2. Bury a statement like 'the sources are available in: ftp.bla.com' deep on
> the web site in nearly invisible letters?

> 3. Not say anything at all (but if someone asks, supply them the sources)?

It would seem to me that a written offer, as per 3b or 3c, must be
supplied with the distribution, so the above two options don't look
kosher to me.

Legal disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, so consult one (or write to GNU
and request clarifications).

-- 
Oleg Goldshmidt | BLOOMBERG L.P. (BFM) | oleg@bfr.co.il
"... We work by wit, and not by witchcraft;
 And wit depends on dilatory time." - W. Shakespeare.

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