> Except from FSF explicitly pointing this out, I agree with you about
> providing patches instead of the complete sources, but that might not
> make FSF change their minds... :-)
I've been fighting this same exact issue with Sony and the FSF since
last May, in fact. I have requested the sources to their version of POSE
back then both verbally as well as written, which was ignored. They tried to
do a "phased delivery" approach, which is strictly verboten as far as the
GPL is concerned. You cannot release version 3.0 of your product, then begin
releasing sources to version 1.0.
Regarding source vs. binary, if you provide a binary *ANYWHERE* for
public download, even if nobody at all downloads that binary, the sources
which created *THAT* binary must be available to users upon request. The
sources do not, however, have to be downloadable.. they can be provided on
another medium, such as CDR or tape, but they cannot be "sold" for more than
the actual cost of that medium (i.e. I can't sell you the sources to POSE
that I've modified on a CDR for $199.00).
Sony has done neither, and repeated requests for sources to the
binary they are *ALREADY* distributing, are still not being made available.
Currently, this puts them in direct violation of the GPL (for the third time
in just over a year on this issue).
Just because they are Sony, and they can hold their breath for a
long time in court, does not mean they are allowed to break the law, and
slap us in the face with this type of blatent violation. A nice PR campaign
will do just as much good for us (and damage to them) as a lengthy court
battle.
Currently, I'm busy dealing with a stronger case with Bluefish
Wireless right now, who are using sources to our GPL project (Plucker) in
their commercial offering, and have denied our requests for those sources
from several people, citing they were "debugging" them. Sorry, "debugged"
sources produce a completely different binary.
After some very specific quoting of the GPL in places (see link
below), their CEO returned an email stating they would gladly sell me a CDR
of our own sources but that they update those sources too often to make them
available (my suggestion was to work WITH us, using OUR cvs, so we didn't
have to fork the project to include their modifications), and would also
consider selling me a copy of their "commercial" SDK which would include
these sources, along with proprietary binary-only modifications to them "if
we were still on good terms". He also "warned" us to consult attorneys
(which I have).
Sorry, that's even more grossly in violation. I've already contacted
Eben at the FSF with a very lengthy and detailed account of their actions so
far, including all email correspondence and relevant URLs, and am awaiting
his replies. I think he's busy at the moment with the MySQL/Neosphere case
in Boston though, I'm told.
I've had good luck getting the POSE sources from Handspring and
Handera/TRG, which is good, but this type of license violating is getting
more and more frequent.
/d
http://www.gnu-designs.com/code/Bluefish/Bluefish-GPL-sent.txt
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