Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL

[Brian Thomas Sniffen <bts@alum.mit.edu>]

Matthew Garrett <mjg59@srcf.ucam.org> writes:
> QPL requirement: if you pass on binaries, you must pass on source to 
> both the recipient and upstream. You claim this is a fee.
>
> GPL requirement: if you pass on binaries, you must pass on source to the 
> recipient. You claim this is not a fee.
>
> I entirely fail to understand the difference here.

It's that one is to the recipient, and the other is to recipient and
upstream.

> In both cases I have had to pass something of value on to people I
> might not have wanted to pass it on to.

In the case of the GPL, you have to give the recipient the same
freedom with the software that you had.  Also, if you don't want to
deal with that recipient, you can give your modifications to somebody
else instead.

In the case of the QPL, you have to give the initial author many more
rights with the software than you had -- he can take it proprietary,
and you can't.  Also, no matter who you want to give those
modifications to, you have to give that broad license to the upstream.

-Brian

-- 
Brian Sniffen                                       bts@alum.mit.edu