Comments on: Comments on 10465

Post number 10465

milnak — Mon, 17 Sep 2001 13:11:53 -0800

Is the GPL a binding legal contract? If so, who would be able to (and could afford to) bring necessary legal action against groups who choose to ignore the terms?

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Mon, 17 Sep 2001 15:42:11 -0800

It most certainly is. (although, to be fair, IANAL, and i'm not sure if it has been contested in court) Anyone who writes software has the right (in theory) to distribute it under _any_ terms they choose. ("You must supply me w/ three golden chimpanzees!") The GPL doesn't prohibit selling of the software. It simply says that if you distribute a program that uses GPL code, then you must make the source code for that program available with your distribution. You can still sell your software, but you must also include the source along w/ it. If you don't want to use the GPL, no one's forcing you to incorporate GPL'd code in your software. Just reimplement what you need if you don't like it. And what's w/ that fucking microsoft quote at the bottom?!

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 17 Sep 2001 18:48:30 -0800

It is probably as binding as any software license, which is why nobody has gone after it -- if it doesn't stand up, it could put all software licenses in jeopardy. The industry doesn't want that.