[mythtv-users] Re: New user and question about GPL

Gavin Hurlbut gjhurlbu+mythtv-users at beirdo.ca
Fri Dec 10 04:26:25 UTC 2004


Lane Schwartz <dowobeha at gmail.com> wrote:
> Again, this is where we disagree. I guess I'll just paste the section
> of the GPL FAQ that I linked to above:

> " What does this "written offer valid for any third party" mean? Does
> that mean everyone in the world can get the source to any GPL'ed
> program no matter what?

> 'Valid for any third party' means that anyone who has the offer is
> entitled to take you up on it.

> If you commercially distribute binaries not accompanied with source
> code, the GPL says you must provide a written offer to distribute the
> source code later. When users non-commercially redistribute the
> binaries they received from you, they must pass along a copy of this
> written offer. This means that people who did not get the binaries
> directly from you can still receive copies of the source code, along
> with the written offer.

> The reason we require the offer to be valid for any third party is so
> that people who receive the binaries indirectly in that way can order
> the source code from you. "


> As I said before, I may be wrong in my interpretation. You can always
> email the gnu folks for a definitive answer.


And that is just the interpretation of the people at GNU who originally
wrote it.  However, that may have been their intention, but the way it reads
can easily be interpreted the way I interpret it, and if it were taken to
court, there is a good chance that that interpretation would be accepted.  A
license agreement is interpreted by the courts (if challenged) in the way the
court chooses :)

Thant being said, if Isaac or any of the other devs called these people up and
demanded to see that the GPL is being followed, they'd almost certainly get
somewhere.  If not, *they* could raise holy hell.  Not much we can do but
whine :)

Ciao
Gavin



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list