Re: GTK+/Glade License

[dg tao-group com]

[...]
> I have talked to several lawyer about this. They all basicly say that
>
> "If you have given something away" you can't have oppinion about
> how it is used. No leagal court would ever defend that.

They're talking about public domain software. If anything is released into the
public domain, you *don't* have any rights over it.

GPL'd software is not given away; it is still owned by the original authors.
You're just allowed to use it if you comply with the license. It's definitely
not in the public domain.

[...]
> Many commercial firms have recognised this and there is a lot of
> Linux systems around that nobody know about. We are involved in
> serveral sutch projects.

If they have changed any GPL'd source code, or use the GPL'd source code in
their own products, then they are violating the license and could be up for
damages. If they're just using GPL'd *components* in their products, then they
don't have to. A common thing to do is to use a Linux kernel with custom
software on top of it. The kernel is GPL'd, but is unmodified. All they have
to do is to point the user at the standard kernel source tree if it asks. The
custom software is not GPL'd, because it's theirs. They don't have to give the
source to anyone.

(But if they need to patch the kernel to make it work with a particular device,
they need to release the source to the patch.)

-- 
+- David Given ---------------McQ-+ "Hydrogen fusion, the sun makes shine
|  Work: dg tao-group com         | Vascular pressure makes the ivy twine.
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+- http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~dg -+ Hormonal fixation is why I love you."