Re: [PROPOSAL] Full text of GPL must be included
Brian Mays wrote:
> If here "you" refers to Debian, then we are not violating the GPL. We
> distribute all of the packages, including "base", which contains the a
> copy of the GPL. We distribute the program AND we give our recipients
> a copy of the license. If they decide to take one and junk the other,
> that is not our responsibility.
Even if everyone agrees with this..
> Now, licensees who distribute one of our GPLed packages without also
> distributing the "base" package are violating the GPL. That is not us,
> however.
This is a hell of an onus to put on anyone who wants to redistribute a
.deb file though. If Debian user Fred wants to give Bob a package he
downloaded, the mere act of copying it onto a floppy and giving it to
Bob would be violating the GPL, yes?
> But we distribute a "whole system". If a third party distributes a
> subset of our system, which does not contain a copy of the GPL, is it
> our responsibility? I don't think so.
It's not strictly our responsibility, but if our users cannot freely
share Debian packages, I can imagine Debian could become much less
appealing to them.
--
see shy jo, who three shirts that violates the GPL
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