Clear up your own confusion first.

Paul_C <[email protected]> 8 Mar 2003 19:49:16 -0000
Newsgroups gmane.comp.web.oscommerce.gpl
Message-ID <cd246f1eea7b9e251711ce8ae616d9bf@osCommerce-Forums>
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http://forums.oscommerce.com/viewtopic.php?p=126302#126302
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[quote="atwong"] Not only that, me, you, or anyone else can request the source code and binaries.  End of story.  See here. http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesWrittenOfferValid and http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#TOCTheGPLSaysModifiedVersions

So say for instance... you built a snazzy addon to osCommerce like AI that will recommend you a product.  Guess what, I can request the source code and binaries from you. http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic and http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#TOCGPLModuleLicense
[/quote]

You can request all you want (until it becomes harassment), but the GNU GPL does [i]not[/i] require someone to distribute their code or binaries. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic

[quote]
What if I hired a consultant and he built addon.  I pay him for it.  Shouldn't I own it (whole/just my changes)?  Nope.... doesn't matter. You might have paid for him time, but the OS GPL Community now owns that code (if it's publicially assessable).
[/quote]

The GNU GPL doesn't give ownership to anyone. It's a license between a [b][i]copyright holder[/i][/b] and another party. Without the copyright holder there is no license. In most countries the author automatically holds copyright, but laws vary on the work-for-hire situation. In any case, the "OS GPL Community" does not own the code. (There isn't even a legal entity called "the OS GPL Community" that you could give ownership to if you wanted to.)

[quote]
Guess what, if I see it, and I know it's GPL, I can ask for it, source and binaries.
[/quote]

See first reply.

[quote]
GPL was made so that no one can claim ownership of the code.
[/quote]

No it wasn't. It was made to ensure that source code was freely modifiable and distributable. You're thinking of [i][b]public domain[/b][/i]. (Which, however, doesn't necessarily apply to derivative works.)

[quote]
Now i'm going to go to all the "featured" sites and see what cool functions I can cherry pick.  *** Note: It's code that I can cherry pick.  GPL doesn't mean I can grab their site.  I can grab all the code but they wouldn't have to give me the images, and the database data and structure. 
[/quote]

Again, noone has to give you anything they don't want to.

[quote]
Last two cents, personally, I would much rather has seen this software using Apache Software License or LGPL. More freedom to assert my changes are mine and I can do almost anything I want with it.[/quote]

Agreed, though I'm a bigger fan of the BSD license.

Really though, if you intend to "clear up the license confusion" you need to know what the hell you're talking about. (Sorry to bite, but there's already way too much misinformation out there on this topic.)