Thomas Bushnell, BSG said: > Anthony Towns <aj@azure.humbug.org.au> writes: > >> Sure. Compare this to some code using the GPL; same sort of >> information, same problem with it: their trade secrets are woven into >> the functionality of the code itself. If one of your customers is a >> competitor, or a competitor buys out a user, any requirement to >> distribute source to your users makes it non-viable to use the >> software for certain applications which are, eg, protected by >> BSD-style licenses. > > Except the GPL doesn't force you to share your secrets, ever. You can > share them with exactly the people you want to share them with, and you > are never obligated to share them with person X just because you shared > them with person Y.
I don't quite understand how you get this from the GPL. (Assumption: you give binaries to Y, but only a written offer for source, since it's "your secret". You'll give them to Y if they ask for them) The "offer to any third party" in Clause 3 seems to mean that if Y gives your binaries to X (in a non-commercial manner), you must give the source to X (sharing your secrets) If you try to restrict Y's freedom to give the binaries away, then you run afoul of Clause 6 (no other restrictions) --Joe