On Wed, 2003-08-27 at 10:42, Emma Jane Hogbin wrote: > Hopefully a (quick) question...if I make a product which is open source I > don't have to *distribute* the product, do I? > > Background: a potential client may or may not understand the benefits of > open source work. If I make something for them which is licensed under > GFL and uses other products, which I have written and are under the same > license, is there any obligation on my part (or the client's part) to > distribute the software? i.e. can something be open source but not > available (for lack of a better term). IANAL, but I certainly don't see any problem with it. The GPL is around to maintain the rights of the code, or in the way that most of the world's legal systems look at it, to pass the rights from user to user. What that means is that if I happen to get a copy of your code I can distribute it all I want. BUT, it does NOT mean that you HAVE to distribute it because you wrote it. I have a few dozen small programs that I've tacked a GPL notice onto just in case, yet that have never ventured off of my hard disk because they are one half step above being absolutely broken, and definitely not ready for prime-time. :) -- Alex Malinovich Support Free Software, delete your Windows partition TODAY! Encrypted mail preferred. You can get my public key from any of the pgp.net keyservers. Key ID: A6D24837
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