On 08/16/2015 09:08 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Hi, > > I was thinking about GPL software not being allowed on the iphone > store, in particular games. It seems to me that it should be fairly easy > to make an app with a license compatible with these tos which could > download and install GPL software from another website. Perhaps the app > could be available elsewhere under the GPL. Would this be a great way to > spread free software? Would Super Tux Kart turn into the killer app that > makes everyone everywhere finally demand freedom with their software? Or > would it just end up like a new tivoization, the latest trick to get > around the GPl? > > If there may be some merit to this idea, I would be curious about > what license might be appropriate. Could the LGPL be used on the iphone > store? Is there another that might work? Would the FSF be interested in > making a special version of the GPL for this kind of situation? > > Sincerely, > > Mark >
Mark, I hope others will weigh in, but I don't think this is possible. Apple's ToS aren't just a couple unfortunate things incompatible with GPL. They are fundamentally much broader than that. I highly doubt that *any* program that installs *other* programs would be compatible with the ToS regardless of license. Apple's terms make complete lock-down. They block anything that does *any* system-level operations at all. For example, the most popular program for jail-broken iThings is Flux, the program that tints the screen red at night (like the GPL software Redshift for GNU/Linux which *everyone* should be using!!). Apple censors that out not because of license but because it does something on the system level. This means Apple is *physically hurting people* because it is keeping them from reducing eye strain and interfering with melatonin production. Apple doesn't care. So, the point is: Apple's terms aren't reasonable with the exception of being GPL incompatible, they are draconian terms. -- Aaron Wolf co-founder, Snowdrift.coop music teacher, wolftune.com
