Re: Package Pool Proposal

[Samuel Tardieu <sam@debian.org>]

| >   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:
| 
| Note the words "one of the following".

Yes, and the three alternatives are: (summarized)

(a) You give the source code as well
(b) You give a written offer to give the source to anyone valid for at least
    three years (note that you have to give the source to ANYONE, not the
    one you distributed the software to, because of alternative (c))
(c) You transmit a written offer (see (b)) that you received from your
    distributor

If you don't mirror the sources, you obviously cannot use alternative (a).

Since you didn't get a WRITTEN offer from the Debian FTP team (as they chose
to use alternative (a) by distributing the source as well), you cannot
use alternative (c).

The only alternative left is (b). You *have* to provide the people you
distribute the binaries to with a written offer, as described in (b).

This point of the GPL has been debated thousands of times. If you do not
agree with the above explanation, please take this thread to gnu.misc.discuss
where many people will be happy to discuss this.