Chris Gianelloni wrote: > On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 17:18 +0200, Mivz wrote: >> Mike Doty wrote: >>> Mivz wrote: >>>>> Then I have got this one question, I don't need a answer too. >>>>> >>>>> How free is free software if you need a lawyer and a expensive server >>>>> just to be able to publish your addition under your own name? >>>>> >>> Very free. There are many project sites that will host your content if >>> you have it under a GPL or similar license. Similarly, as long as you >>> provide the source, you satisfy the main point of GPL. Thousands of >>> projects do exactly this without any input from a lawyer. >>> >> But then it's still 'free beer', and not 'freedom'. I still can not >> write a patch and make a cd with the patch applied to give to my mum and >> my friends, without the risk of my intelligence being stolen and abused. >> Or I have to go through the hassle of finding a provider, which of >> course needs attention too. > > This is a common misconception. All that you really need to provide is > the patches. If you, for example, made a Gentoo-based distribution, and > made changes to 3 packages, you would only need provide the source for > those three packages. At most, providing a link to the upstream (us) > packages/code/etc for everything else would be required. Also, you are > only required to provide source to the people you provide binaries to, > and you're only required to do so on request. Meaning that if you made > a CD and only gave it to your mom, you don't need a server. You just > need to burn her a CD of source if she asked. It really is that simple. > The only way you need a server is if you're going about distributing it > to the world, and you made a ton of changes. Remember, the GPL just > says that you have to provide the code. Pointing someone to where they > can get it *is* providing it, so long as any patches/changes you've made > are also available under some means. >
Tank you :) Now it all makes sens. Cause if you publish a live cd to a large audience, you should be able to publish the rest also. Then it's only a couple of GB on disk. If you make just a few for friends, a text file with your email is enough. Now I see how nice the GPL adopts to the size of your plans and audience. And if it grows, it is also reasonable to provide a Gentoo mirror, because it probably would also use the Gentoo network for distribution of the base files. -- gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list
