On May 18, 11:03 am, Robert Kern <robert.k...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2010-05-16 09:25 , Ed Keith wrote:
> > No, the GPL makes it clear that the responsibly is on the distributor to
> > either supply the source or written notice, Caveat venditor. The violation
> > exists regardless of whether or not the recipient makes a request.
>
> No, one of the options for you is that you make the source available upon
> request.
Do you have a citation for that? My reading, of both GPL v2 section 3
and GPL v3 section 6, is that someone distributing GPL licensed object
must do one of the following:
- supply the source with the object
- supply a written offer for source with the object
- supply a copy of someone else's written offer for source with the
object (only allowed sometimes)
- Perhaps verbally communicate an offer (GPL v2 only, very liberal
reading of 3c, but even then the communication must "accompany" the
object distribution).
- supply object by "offering access from a designated place" as long
as you "offer equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in the
same way through the same place" or "you maintain clear directions
next to the object code saying where to find the Corresponding
Source".
That last one effectively has "written offer" defined in a slightly
different way ("maintain clear directions"), and also might allow you
to just have a pile of source DVDs adjacent to a pile of object CDs
with no explicit written offer, but I honestly can't see how even that
can be stretched to cover just handing somebody an object CD without
even mentioning that source is available, and then only later giving
them source if they explicitly ask for it.
Sure, if you give somebody source after they ask for it, you have
probably "cured" any violation, but I think the very act of handing
someone an object CD without source or a written offer of source would
put you in violation of the license at the time you give them the
object CD. It may be that saying "oh, by the way, source code's
available if you want it" would suffice in some cases under GPL v2,
but it doesn't look like that would work at all for GPL v3.
Regards,
Pat
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