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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: [OT] some weird GPL licensing questions
From:       Tim Jansen <tim () tjansen ! de>
Date:       2004-02-15 1:44:38
Message-ID: 200402150244.38131.tim () tjansen ! de
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On Sunday 15 February 2004 01:20, Olaf Jan Schmidt wrote:
> I don't have a company, so I won't take that risk. I also don't think that
> internal use should be allowed by the GPL, but according to the FSF, it
> is.

That would restrict freedom and create many hassles and legal risks for those 
who work with GPL'd software. E.g. I once had a hack in kopete to highlight 
certain words in an IRC channel. The words were hardcoded in the source. 
Should I be obliged to upload this version? Would I need to upload it again 
when I change a word? Would I lose my right to use it under GPL when I forgot 
to upload it or even pay damages? Where should I publish it? In order to make 
it useful I would need to tell someone where I published it, otherwise it 
would be useless. Who should I tell it, and who would want to know everytime 
I add a keyword to kopete?

It's also difficult to define 'internal use'. E.g. would Apple be forced to 
publish their khtml changes as soon as someone used it internally?

bye...


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