Re: Gnus Manual License
On Sat, 07 Oct 2006 01:12:10 +0200, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> said:
> 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,
Maybe. Although several books already come with CD-ROMs. And the cost
of adding a CD-ROM to a book is probably less than, say, paying an
author to write the book in the first place. Or you just add a dollar
to the cost of the book.
> and the latter is an uncalculable risk that might involve unknown
> amounts of logistics to process.
Throw it up on a web server for three years. If anyone cares enough to
ask for the source instead of just downloading it, you get a gopher to
burn it onto a CD-ROM and mail it. It's not really that complicated.
> 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.
But it is not an unreasonable cost.
--
Hubert Chan - email & Jabber: hubert@uhoreg.ca - http://www.uhoreg.ca/
PGP/GnuPG key: 1024D/124B61FA (Key available at wwwkeys.pgp.net)
Fingerprint: 96C5 012F 5F74 A5F7 1FF7 5291 AF29 C719 124B 61FA
Reply to: