Re: [OT] some weird GPL licensing questions
Peter S Galbraith <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.kde.licensing,gmane.comp.kde.devel.core |
|---|---|
| Organization | Debian GNU/Linux - www.debian.org |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Alexander Neundorf <[email protected]> wrote: > So here we go: > AFAIK the GPL mainly says that if you have the binary version of > something you have the right to get the sources of this version. Yes, but only _from_ the person who gave you the binary. If you give binar+source to party B and party B give a binary-only to party C, then party C can't force _you_ to give source. > Does this also mean that I only have to give the sources to people who have > the binary version ? Not only that, only to those _you_ have given the binary source to. > Of course they are free to give the sources away > as they want to, but that's another story. Precisely. > And does this also mean > that I don't have to give the sources to somebody who doesn't have the > binary and who I don't like (for whatever reason) ? Yes. > Do I interpret this correctly ? > > Let's say I (in the case I would be an until now proprietary-only developing > software company) would decide to make a library dual-licensed GPL and > commercial, I wouldn't *have* to put the GPL sources on a website, right ? Correct. > I would only have to ensure that everybody who buys the binary version > from me is able to get the sources for the binary, maybe he has to > send me a mail and then I send him the sources. Right ? Right. > Would I actually be allowed to sell this software ? Selling and licensing are raelly different issues. > I.e. would it be > ok to say "give me 500 euro and you get the GPL binary library, and if > you ask for it, I'll send you also the sources". Of course as soon as > he would have received the sources he would be allowed to make them > available for free on his webpage. Right ? Right. -- Peter S. Galbraith, Debian Developer <[email protected]> http://people.debian.org/~psg GPG key 1024/D2A913A1 - 97CE 866F F579 96EE 6E68 8170 35FF 799E