Re: Gnus Manual License

[David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org>]

Daniel Brockman <daniel@brockman.se> writes:

> David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> writes:
>
>> [...] For example, GFDL-hostile entities like Debian will
>> be free to distribute the material GPL-only, meaning that
>> it will become impossible to reasonably create
>> printed copies.
>
> It is impossible to reasonably create printed copies
> of GPLed manuals?

You need to provide the complete machine-readable source code on a
medium customarily used for software interchange, or a written offer
to provide to _any_ third party at cost the source code for a duration
of three years.  The first is not really feasible in many cases, and
the latter is an uncalculable risk that might involve unknown amounts
of logistics to process.

With the GFDL, the source requirement kicks in at 100 copies of the
manual, and then it can be be satisfied by putting the source on a web
server for a year.

For pretty much every publisher, those differences will be much more
relevant than two sentences on the cover.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum