GPL compliance

[Gary W. Swearingen]

ubuntu at rio.vg writes:

> Alexander Skwar wrote:
>>
>>>  If the user wanting the source code doesn't have access to
>>> the internet, that's his own problem.
>> 
>> I disagree. If a user got Ubuntu (or any GPL software) on CD and
>> has no Internet, why should he be forced to buy something (Internet
>> access) just so that he can make use of his rights? That doesn't make
>> sense to me.
>
> You have the GPL backwards.  The *user* doesn't have the right to the
> source code.  Instead, the *distributor* is required to provide the
> source code.  Do you see the difference?

Of course there is a difference, but the user nevertheless DOES have
the right (some rights, anyway) to the source code.  The distributor
and every other owner of rights to the source code has licensed
(assuming acceptance, etc.) those rights to the user.  The user now
has the rights, but they're of little value if he can't get a copy of
the source.  The GPL just has this funky little clause 3 to facilitate
getting a copy (at least for three years) by making it a duty of the
publisher to provide the source, etc.

(Note that there's no such requirement for X and much other code and
this hasn't proved to be much of a problem, thanks to the Internet.)

> The GPL, simply put, is a set of requirements that a distributor must
> meet before the software can be distributed.  It is not a set of user
> rights.

(Side issue: There is also a difference between "distributing" and
"publishing" in formal IP talk, though the GPL tends to use it
wrongly.  Publication is distribution to the public.  The GPL
explicitly permits the distribution of binary-only derivatives, say,
within a company (or other domains, debatably), while it prohibits
publication of the same.)

> The legal requirement, however, is satisfied by making the
> sources available for download.

Gotta agree.  And a lot better for the user than offering it on
9-track tape like "customary" meant when GPL was first used.  That
wouldn't satisfy it these days, IMO.