Hello Bud,
I believe that others have pointed this out, but AFAIK GPL is only
applicable for code that is released under it. I know that RedHat releases
CDs with commercial applications on it. BRU2000 is a commercial backup
application that is closed source, yet is on several RedHat distributions.
I haven't really used it so I ignore the licensing on it. However, if you
needed the product then you would have to purchase more seats for it.
AFAIK, Debian is the only completely open-source distribution is that ALL
code is open-source.
I have no idea about how to fix the forking problem with Vista. If the
HardHats change Vista to GPL, then it could cause problems with VA polices
and regulations. I know that Vista is used in other counties like Finland
and Italy and I don't know what kinds of problems or politics this would
have.
Todd Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Bud P. Bruegger [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>However, the problem starts when someone modifies this code that is now
>under the GPL. For example, someone fixes a bug. The modified code is
>required to be GPL too and in consequence, it could not be merged back into
>the main VISTA distribution (unless that changed from public domain to
>GPL). I believe this is the same problem that Todd pointed out when he
>talked about forking. And I believe it is a serious one.
--bud
