GPL

X-Comment-To: Bart Oldeman

Hi!

10-Ноя-2002 22:07 [email protected] (Bart Oldeman) wrote to
[email protected]:

BO> DRDOS and we're not (Caldera made one source release of "Open"DOS with an
BO> extremely stupid license, and then made it closed again -- one good way
BO> NOT too make friends among OSS and Free Software developers).

     Why? You mean, that GPL, unlike OSS/FS, not allows to change license?
As I understand, GPL license also may be changed if all copyright holders
convinced.

     Well, I have another (theoretical, yet?) question: how to make moneys
with GPLed software. For example (all below are as I understand):

Public Domain (PD) - Authors dissmised from rights on program/source and
                     user may do with this anything.
Freeware (FW)      - Usually mean "free beer", but author keeps rights on
                     program/source.
Donationware (DW)  - "Pay something if you liked program", in other similar
                     to FW.
Shareware (SW)     - "You should pay if use more than xx days"
                        or
                     "You should pay to get more functional version"
GPL                - unlike SW, restricts programmers in commercial reusing
                     and authors in limiting distribution

     SW software user may freely distribute, but should pay for usage;
commercial software can't be redistributed (unless explicitly allowed) nor
use without paying (per site, per run, etc).

     GPL requires that software (unlike commercial software) can't be
restricted in distribution and usage (unlike SW software) and should be
distributed with sources, which may be modified (with preserving
copyrights) and used in other GPLed software.

     This mean, that I can't require payment for distribution (unless user
ready to pay for my packaging/delivery service, which should be only
alternative for free access to program and sources) nor for running. How
else I may make moneys? Require money for getting answers? Making patches?
Customizing? Ask "pay if you liked" (as for DW)? What else?

     Also, about commercial software. As I understand, GPLed software may be
used/distributed with (not included, but used by/with) commercial software.
For example, may I make some commercial (i.e. closed and/or restricted in
distribution/running) program, which will run under FreeDOS (for example,
some disk restoring program, which will run from floppy with FreeDOS) or run
other GPLed program (say, archiver to make backups)?