Hi,


On Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 11:43:35AM -0500, Nick Guenther wrote:
quoted text
> <<<According to the GNU license, anyone using a GNU GPL license in
> their software application must ship the sources or a written notice
> on where to get sources. Since web applications are applications, all
> web applications and html pages that are powered by GNU scripts must
> ship the sources (or a written notice) each time someone requests the
> web page inside their web browser. Web developers are not doing this.
> No one has noticed.>>
> In fairness, these charges seem overzealous; deliberately
> misinterpretting the spirit of the GPL. I don't know, though, so I'd
> like it to be cleared up; as I understand it, a web app doesn't count
> as "publishing"; people just using code like that are under no
> obligation to publish it, and it's just the author/vendor who is
> obligated to provide source.
> Though, I suppose RMS (a hypothetical, consistent RMS) mght argue that
> if you are providing a "web app" piece of software, then if your users
> cannot edit your site on you ("modify software they use") then you are
> violating the Four Freedoms and the GPL.
> Is any of that anywhere near reality?

there was an article in the current issue of the german Linux Magazin,
it covers the use of GPLv2'ed web applications regarding "Software as a
Service, Application Service Providing and Free Software".

According to this article, the GPL(v2) does not consider this kind of
use of Free Software as distribution. Because of that, the FSF designed
the "Affero General Public License" (AGPL) [1].
Additionally, the article says that in GPLv3, they make use of the term
"convey" which also didn't consider the kind of distribution that
happens with a web application as a distribution of software, therefore
they started a "AGPLv3" [2].


hth
Sebastian

[1] http://linux-magazin.de/heft_abo/ausgaben/2008/01/freier_zugriff?category=0
[2] http://www.affero.org/oagpl.html
[3] http://gplv3.fsf.org/agplv3-dd2-guide.html

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