Re: Is AGPLv3 DFSG-free?
"Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso" <jordigh@gmail.com> wrote:
> 2008/9/2 MJ Ray <mjr@phonecoop.coop>:
> > "Would a licence that required me to give a copy of the source at my
> > expense if I let someone use the application on my laptop meet the
> > DFSG?"
>
> Why is this a question that matters for the AGPL? Are you saying that
> the condition of distributing source over a network could be
> prohibitively expensive?
This question matters if - as some claim - there is no longer a useful
distinction between network and personal computing. The question is
trying to apply the AGPL's network use/distribution clause to personal
computing. If we accept that there is no distinction and that the
AGPL is free, it seems very probable that someone will soon try a
licence that behaves like the above and claim it's free software.
I am wondering (I am undecided, remember) whether the condition of
distributing source over a network has an unavoidable cost. I don't
think the size of that cost is important.
> Pleae correct me if I'm strawmanning you, but this is ridiculous.
I'm not sure whether it's strawmanning me, but I feel it's a bit close
to a personal attack. I've bared my thoughts and all I got was this
lousy ridicule.
> [...] Sure, if your site is slashdotted with source requests, that's
> a problem, but this could happen just as well with the GPL as it it
> could with the AGPL. [...]
It doesn't necessarily happen with the GPL, thanks to the multiple
choices in clause 6 and the possibility of choosing to use but not
distribute. The AGPL source distribution condition is also an order
of magnitude bigger than the GPL's: all users > all recipients.
> I don't understand why embedded systems have anything to do with it.
> You just have to put the code up somewhere on some network server if
> you are distributing your application's interface over a network. The
> server hosting the code doesn't even have to be your own, just put it
> on Sourceforge or one of the zillions code hosting servers out there.
I think then you have to make the embedded system phone home and check
that the source source is still up before it offers network service.
> I don't see a conflict with the dissident test either; [...]
I'm not sure it does either, although I note that both Savannah and
Sourceforge (for example) have terms that require one's real name.
Which services allow anonymous hosting?
Regards,
--
MJR/slef
My Opinion Only: see http://people.debian.org/~mjr/
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