Subject: Re: licensing NOT clear for me
From: Chris Faylor <[email-masked]>
To: DJ Delorie <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:17:28 -0500

On Thu, Mar 18, 1999 at 11:35:17AM -0500, DJ Delorie wrote:
>
>> You are saying then, that i can include the .dll on the zip on my website
>> (www.unionlatina.org/kaosbot) and then just say something like
>> If you want the cygwin source go to sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin
>> and I don't even need to have the sources on the webserver?
>
>As I explained in my other email, I wouldn't recommend this because
>you can't guarantee you're complying with the GPL if you do this.

Here are the appropriate clauses from the GPL:

3.  You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
    under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
    Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

    a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source
       code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2
       above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

    b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to
       give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically
       performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the
       corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections
       1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

    c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to
       distribute corresponding source code.  (This alternative is allowed only
       for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in
       object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with
       Subsection b above.)

From the above, it seems to me that b) would be feasible for source
distributions on the web, unless "written offer" means something more
esoteric than actually including those words in a README.

What this means to me is that if someone asks for the sources you can say,
"Sure.  Give me a week to set things up for you on my web/ftp site and
provide me with a $xx processing fee.  Alternatively, if you'd like to
get the latest copy of cygwin you can go to http://sourceware.cygus.com/cygwin/.
Bear in mind that this copy may not be the one that I used to build my
program but it probably will work just fine for you.  Otherwise, please
let me know if you'd like me to provide the sources on my ftp/web site."

cgf

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