Re: A few more LPPL concerns
> Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 13:30:47 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Mark Rafn <dagon@dagon.net>
>
> > Note that in the above, `distribution' of a file means making the file
> > available to others by any means. This includes, for instance,
> > installing the file on any machine in such a way that the file is
> > accessible by users other than yourself.
>
> Did this bother anyone else, or am I out in left field again? I don't
> think it's actually enforceable, as it becomes a use constraint rather
> than a distribution (in the normal sense of the word) constraint, but even
> the attempt is unpleasant. I can accept (unhappily) some hoops required
> to give out modified copies of your software. I cannot accept that a
> Debian customer isn't allowed to change the software on a machine she owns
> (but isn't the sole user) without following these hoops.
>
I think this requirement is compatible with the copyright.
Suppose I take a GPL'ed program, change it and put the closed version
(sans sources) on my own machine. I did not violate GPL yet. Now
suppose that I make the drive NFS-exportable and encourage my paying
customers to mount it and access the program from there. Would I
violate GPL? I think yes.
I think that distribution is precisely this: making something
available to others. Giving other people the right to my access files
counts as distribution in my book.
--
Good luck
-Boris
One good turn deserves another.
-- Gaius Petronius
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-request@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
Reply to: