*BSD News Article 89793


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From: JYoungman@vggas.com (James Youngman)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: GPL
Date: 21 Feb 1997 11:38:15 GMT
Organization: VG Gas Analysis Systems
Lines: 19
Message-ID: <5ek1f7$bgq@halon.vggas.com>
References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <m23evgchq9.fsf@maxwell.sfhs.floyd.k12.ky.us> <5d2jpo$bb1@omega.gmd.de> <LJn9y0gTzz1L091yn@ibm.net> <5egc46$eug@nyx10.cs.du.edu>
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In article <5egc46$eug@nyx10.cs.du.edu>, colin@nyx10.cs.du.edu says...

>The GPL doesn't say much of anything about what you may do with a copy
>that you already have.

True.   People not _copying_ a GPL work can do anything they like with it.
I seem to remember that at one point IBM had a modified internal version of GCC 
-- since they weren't distributing/selling it, they didn't have to provide 
source (since they weren't providing binary either).

They were perfectly within their rights to do this.   This is not a flame at 
IBM or anything; I suspect in any acse that whatever their mods were for, that 
functionality may well be in recent GCCs anyway.

-- 
James Youngman       VG Gas Analysis Systems  The trouble with the rat-race 
Before sending advertising material, read     is, even if you win, you're 
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html         still a rat.