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Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 21:26:04 -0400
Message-Id: <200010170126.VAA15303@envy.delorie.com>
From: DJ Delorie <dj AT delorie DOT com>
To: jfpatry AT sunspirestudios DOT com
CC: robert DOT collins AT itdomain DOT com DOT au, cygwin AT sources DOT redhat DOT com
In-reply-to: <20001016210442.D23805@cgl.uwaterloo.ca> (message from Jasmin
	Patry on Mon, 16 Oct 2000 21:04:44 -0400)
Subject: Re: distribution suggestion
References: <003201c03752$74404970$f7c723cb AT lifelesswks> <20001016141212 DOT A5544 AT cgl DOT uwaterloo DOT ca> <018201c037ba$6eb62750$f7c723cb AT lifelesswks> <200010162220 DOT SAA13845 AT envy DOT delorie DOT com> <20001016210442 DOT D23805 AT cgl DOT uwaterloo DOT ca>


[the cygwin list has heard this a bazillion times; reply privately
for a detailed discussion if you want - DJ]

> (Note that I would argue that the web is "a medium customarily used
> for software interchange", but if you guys don't agree, then that's
> fine.)

The original intent of that is that, say, if you get a binary on a 4mm
DDS tape, then the sources should be available on a 4mm DDS tape.
Making the sources available only on Hollerith cards is effectively
the same as not making them available at all, unless the person got
the binary on Hollerith cards also (in which case, you know he has a
reader).

The web is fast becoming a standard medium, but what if I got a CD at
the local mall and didn't have an internet connection?  What if the
sources are 2Gb and I only have a 14.4 modem?  I usually advise that
whatever medium the binary is on, the sources should be on the same
medium.  That way you're guaranteed to be OK.

The other key to web distribution, as Charles points out, is that you
must control the availability of the sources.  What happens if you
rely on Red Hat to provide cygwin sources, and Red Hat releases a new
version of cygwin?  Poof - instant GPL violation on your part.  Plus,
routing and/or firewalls might make redhat.com unavailable to people
who might otherwise have access to tuxracer binaries.

> Would this be sufficient?  I'd like to avoid forcing people to
> download Cygwin source code if possible (since 99% of people
> downloading Tux Racer it will have no use for it).

The basic premise of the GPL is that anyone who has the binary is
entitled to the source, and the author is required to make it
available.  Since you distribute tuxracer via the Internet, making the
sources *available* on the internet is sufficient.  The GPL doesn't
require you to *force* the sources on them.  It's ok if *they* choose
not to download it.

It would be acceptable to have a separate zip/targz file for the
tuxracer source and for the cygwin source.  That way, if a user wants
just the tuxracer source, they can get just the tuxracer source.  The
important part is that it's the *user's* choice, not yours.

The 3b clause only works for medium that can be accompanied by a
*written* offer.  You can't include a piece of paper in an ftp
download.  If you want to pioneer the use of PGP-signed dated offers,
go ahead (I don't know what the legal issues are), but you must update
the offer *every day* with a new date (to validate the three-year
minimum) or make the offer last more than three years (example: a four
year offer need only be updated once a year).  You would also need to
include the version of the program inside the signed part.

3b also requires that you, the author, escrow sources for *every*
binary release you make for a *minimum* of three years - it's a
maintenance headache, and I discourage it.

> I'd very much like to bring Tux Racer in compliance with the GPL, if
> it isn't already.  Tux Racer itself is distributed under the GPL, so
> it's definitely not in my interest to violate it in any way.

Understood, and appreciated!

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