My understanding of the GPL is that it's purpose is to promote use of software, and sharing of ideas.
That said, I've always understood that the GPL grants the right to USE any software that is under the GPL, in any way that might be needed. Where the restrictions come in is on making changes to the software, and then re-distributing it. Those changes must be made public (as was the software you based the changes on), thereby passing on the same rights that you utilized to make the changes. The idea of using software internally and not having to distribute changed code is a grey area I think. If you make changes and then make that changed package available on another computer, you have in essence distributed it. That other computer must then have access to the source code of the changes. I guess this means that your changes have to be distributed internally, but not to the general public. But, the moment that program passes outside the internal boundaries, all the public rules come into effect. If you had been allowing access to the changes internally, then there is very little overhead in making the code public. So, in short, you can feel free to use any software under a GPL license and not have to worry about being in a legal position. If you are not modifying the software, then you have no worries whatsoever. And that is the real draw of the GPL I think. The sharing of changes is just an added bonus, in my eyes. Of course, you are bordering on a legal question, so you might want to consult a lawyer, or at least someone with a better legal understanding of these things. Shawn simon wrote: > Hi all, > This is probably going to start a flame war, but heh winter is coming > and we all need to keep warm :-) > > Do you need to agree to the GPL license prior to using an application > licensed under it? > > By using it I mean 'using' (such as editing your pictures with Gimp), > rather than (re)distributing the application. > > Simon. _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
