Re: Is AGPLv3 DFSG-free?
2008/9/3 Don Armstrong <don@debian.org>:
> On Wed, 03 Sep 2008, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso wrote:
>> > The AGPL requires access to source to occur at the time of use,
>> > which is more difficult.
>>
>> Why? You just have to put a link somewhere "source here".
>
> And the link has to go to somewhere where the source actually exists.
> Try doing that currently for a package and all of the package's
> recursive dependencies which was in testing 3 months ago, but has
> since been superseded.
I swear I'm not being purposely dense, but I honestly don't understand
how this is any different than the way Debian handles distributing
source for all other packages. Are you saying the burden is going to
be in updating those links that say where to get the source, making
the patchwork for packaging AGPL software more tedious? The GPL says
three years, right? That means Debian still had to distribute sources
for sarge until this past June. Or is it that with the AGPL, it's not
just three years, but for however long you keep conveying the software
over a network? This is the same for the GPL, as long as you keep
conveying GPLed software, those three years get renewed.
It doesn't sound like it's Debian's duty to keep conveying the source
over a network for longer than those three years unless there's AGPL
software running in the Debian webservers. And if you keep a server up
with your modified AGPLed software, I insist that it's not an
unreasonable burden to also keep the corresponding source available
somewehere online. You want to stop conveying the source, then stop
conveying the software over the network, tada! Or if you don't want to
convey source at all, then don't modify the software that you yoinked
from the original copyright holder..
- Jordi G. H.
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