David Nusinow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Fri, Jul 16, 2004 at 02:13:38PM -0400, Brian Thomas Sniffen wrote: >> The developer hasn't promised to obey the license. I distribute >> software written by others all the time. I'm not sued by them because >> they licensed me to do this under the GPL, but I wouldn't even have to >> know about the GPL in order to do this legally. > > But your behavior is still constrained in that (in the case of the GPL or QPL) > if you modify the software and distribute it you must agree to the terms of > the > license. I don't understand how this is not a promise.
I haven't promised the FSF anything, but I distribute and modify their software all the time. Maybe I don't agree to the GPL. Maybe, someday, I'll fail to note my changes at the top of every file! Bwahaha. And if I ever do that, what would they be able to do to me? Get mad because I broke a promise? No. Get mad because I violated their copyright? Yes. The GPL is not a promise I've made. It's an offer, and a nonrevocable one at that, from them to everybody else. -Brian -- Brian Sniffen [EMAIL PROTECTED]
