Re: DFSG and GPL -- source retention
> > > Hmm? The archive on va is on /org/archive.debian.org/ftp
On Fri, 4 Dec 1998, Raul Miller wrote:
> > If the sources are not publically accessible we're not meeting the GPL
> > requirement that we distribute them.
Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@ualberta.ca> wrote:
> The requirement is 3 years and someone has to ask for it, that is we
> don't have to make it available constantly - last I checked of course.
> It actually said a 'written offer' but hey.
If someone had asked me, I wouldn't have been able to even tell them
that the archives existed -- we don't have a written offer, near
as I can tell, which means people won't know who to ask or how.
That's even assuming that we think that handing out the sources
manually, rather than letting our existing distribution system
handle it, is the right way to approach the issue.
> The GPL is kinda vague on what happens if someone downloads a binary
> from an archive that has source for that binary, do we have to keep
> said source on said archive for 3 years? If not then do we have to
> respond to requests for 3 years? If not then do we have to keep source
> for anyone except the binary-only cd vendors?
I think we're safe if we keep the sources available for three years
after the binaries are available.
I think that if all our mirrors distributed full source, and if apt had
an option so that it would always download the source for every binary
it installed, that we would could get by with deleting source at the
same time we delete the binaries.
--
Raul
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