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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.eng.convex.com!newshost.convex.com!bcm.tmc.edu!pendragon!news.msfc.nasa.gov!sgigate.sgi.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!news.artisoft.com!usenet From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc Subject: Re: HELP Needed: Linux & BSD Unix Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 21:56:07 -0700 Organization: Me Lines: 32 Message-ID: <319D5867.24BAF1EA@lambert.org> References: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960510184925.26923A-100000@leonis.nus.sg> <31977BC4.5104AB6B@lambert.org> <slrn4ppkku.2ef.dfox@belvdere.vip.best.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: hecate.artisoft.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.01 (X11; I; Linux 1.1.76 i486) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.misc:104408 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1078 David E. Fox wrote: ] >I thought "freely redistributable" meant "without obligation ] >on the part of the distrubtor". Otherwise there is a cost ] >associated with redistribution... the obligation incurred. ] >For GPL, this means becoming a distribution center (or ] >information hub) for a period of two years. ] ] I don't understand what you mean by this. Have all the Linux ] distributors (cd rom people) been a "distribution center" for ] two years, or have all the Linux ftp sites (and mirrors ] thereof) been up for that long? The GPL requires you to distribute source (which may be impractical; for instance, a bootp client in ROM on a 3C509 ethernet card... it may also not be cost effective) or offer to supply source for a period of two years. Technically, if I distribute binaries based on GPL'ed code, I am no longer free to *not* distribute source. I am sentenced to being a distributor for two years. I am obl;igated by the GPL. This is a perfectly acceptable thing, but it needs to be noted in the context of "freely redistributable" that was presenting GPL as an example. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.