Why the distinction between free software and GPL software is important

[Mark Wallace]

I'm using legal terms.  The gnome site hyperlink isn't using legal 
terms because it isn't trying to make a legal point.  The person who 
is citing it in a discussion of legal issues isn't clear on the point 
that Gnome is trying to make




At 08:14 AM 26/04/2007, you wrote:
>On Thursday 26 April 2007 12:35, Mark Wallace wrote:
> > The reason why the distinction between free and GPL software is
> > important is someone could get into a lot of trouble is they took
> > Reader and  used it as a basis to reverse engineer a product that
> > would compete with the Acrobat full suite.
>
>Would you care to elaborate what definition of "free" you have in mind
>here? If you look it up at e.g. www.dictionary.com you get many
>definitions for "free", but only a few talk about the absence of money /
>cost.
>
> > He would be free to do
> > that with XPDF, and could turn around and make what he did
> > proprietary, as long as he made the original xpdf available for free.
>
>I think xpdf is distributed under the GPL. Therefore the changes may
>become proprietary, but the combined product, i.e. the modified xpdf, may
>not become proprietory. The modified xpdf may only be distributed under
>the terms of the GPL.
>
>
>Nils
>
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Robert Mark Wallace
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Regina E P Wallace
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