Re: GNU FDL 1.2 draft comment summary posted, and RFD

[Walter Landry <wlandry@ucsd.edu>]

Brian Sniffen <bts@akamai.com> wrote:
> 
> Walter Landry <wlandry@ucsd.edu> writes:
> 
> > Jeff Licquia <licquia@debian.org> wrote:
> >> On Mon, 2002-06-17 at 15:21, Walter Landry wrote:
> >> > The problem is not that the kids can't get the source, it is that the
> >> > Peace Corps volunteer can't give them paper copies.  The volunteer
> >> > can't satisfy all of the conditions on distribution.
> >> 
> >> I traced this thread back to my original proposal, and verified that it
> >> did, indeed, require only one of three possibilities:
> >> 
> >>  - give source now
> >> 
> >>  - offer to provide source if asked for the cost of distribution
> >> 
> >>  - attach a statement that describes how to get the source on their own
> >> free of charge.
> >> 
> >> If the Peace Corps volunteer handwrites the URL for the source on the
> 
> >> back of each of the paper copies, then (s)he has fulfilled the license. 
> >> As an added bonus, the Ghanians don't have to do anything to fulfill the
> >> distribution requirements themselves when they pass the document on.
> >
> > This is just like telling someone in the US that they can have the
> > source for free as long as they join a $50,000/year free software
> > club.  So I guess my question is, is it ok to tell people that they
> > can get the source by joining a $50,000/year software club?  If not,
> > why not?  After all, the cost of the club is an incidental expense,
> > much like internet access.  The club might also provide all of the
> > latest ISO's of all of the linux distributions, as well as an email
> > account and web storage.
> 
> There's no way to provide the preferred form for editing to someone
> without a computer.  For many documents (say, a printed version of
> everything2), there's no way to provide the preferred form for editing
> without a reasonably modern computer with a fast network connection.
> 
> A usefully free document license is only possible due to the cheapness
> of publishing in the information age.  While it's an admirable goal to
> bring the rest of the world into the information age, a document
> license alone won't do it.

My $50,000/year example is not set in a third world country, it is set
in a modern industrialized country.  So my question is, again, is it
ok to require a membership in an extremely expensive club to satisfy
this exemption?  If not, why not?

If it does apply, then why doesn't it apply to the kids in Ghana?

Regards,
Walter Landry
wlandry@ucsd.edu


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