Re: FAQ of the GPL

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http://forums.oscommerce.com/viewtopic.php?p=91376#91376
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[quote="asinkecualo"]I think the GPL require you to publish the source code if you make it available in any way to public. I think this is done when you sell this code to any other company (your client) different from you.[/quote]

Be careful ;-) That part of the GNU/GPL comes in action when you distribute a program in binary form. In that case there is ALSO source code that must be made available to any third party. But in our case that is different. Normal distribution is in source code - not in binary. One could argue that because of that one is not obliged to hand out the sources to any third party. This is a known issue and the FSF is working on a new version of the GPL that should address this. So to all those people out there thinking they have found a little hole to base business on - it will only be for a short time and it already is against the philosophy and principles of the GNU/GPL.

But as you correctly say:

[quote]Maybe we have not the right to ask for the publishment of the code, but if the code is GPL'ed (as I think it should be) any of the clients of this company can make it public.[/quote]

Exactly. Every client has all rights the GNU/GPL warrants. Included is the right of distribution - gratis or for a fee.

One has to leave behind the thought that source code is your property to fully understand the priniciples of OpenSource ;-)