> There's no question of charging for the source.  The GPL says that if
> you distribute a binary under the GPL you must also make the sources
> available (for a reasonable duplication fee if desired, or for free),
> or indicate where the user can get the sources for free from (e.g. a
> URL).  An offer of the form, `Here is my app for Rs. 50000 and if you
> want the sources I'll charge you another Rs. 50000' is explicitly
> forbidden under the GPL; at least until the Indian Rupee gets so
> devalued that Rs. 50000 is the going rate for a bottle of cola, in
> which case it may certainly be considered a reasonable duplication fee

Isn't the precise amount of money indicated by a word like "reasonable"
always grey enough to allow wide latitude? I guess the hard limits to
these "reasonable" figures will only be decided by case law. I don't yet
remember hearing about any case in any court where the reasonableness of
the duplicating fees for GPL source was the bone of contention. So I
guess we'll have to wait. :)

About your example of Rs.50,000, frankly, I can easily imagine how some
companies can show you that it actually costs them Rs.50K to duplicate a
CD. Want to look into the inefficiencies of some sarkari companies, and
start by adding up the cost-to-company of all the committee meetings to
decide the specs of the CD writer to be used? :))

Shuvam


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