SCO, Linux and the GPL [LWN.net]

From:		ketil@ii.uib.no (Ketil Z. Malde)
To:		letters@lwn.net
Subject:		SCO, Linux and the GPL
Date:		08 Aug 2003 13:03:00 +0200


Hi,

Don't you lose the rights granted by the GPL if you don't abide by its
terms?  Say, if you redistribute a GPL'ed piece of software on the
condition of a per-CPU license fee from all users, don't you lose the
right to use said piece of software?

>From the GPL:

|  4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
|  except as expressly provided under this License.  Any attempt
|  otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
|  void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
|  License.

If somebody were to distribute or sublicense, say, the Linux kernel in
a non-compliant way, could they still legally run their web server on
Linux?

    http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=sco.com

-kzm
-- 
If I haven't seen further, it is by standing in the footprints of giants

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SCO, Linux and the GPL

Posted Aug 14, 2003 7:04 UTC (Thu) by jamesh (subscriber, #1159) [Link]

If SCO breaks the GPL, they lose the rights granted to them under the GPL for that piece of software.

Since they have broken the Linux kernel's license, they now no longer have the right to distribute it, make derivative works and distribute those derivative works.

As Eben Moglen said in his position paper about the case, you don't need a license to simply use a piece of software, so there should be no issue with them using unmodified versions of Linux on their web server.

SCO, Linux and the GPL

Posted Aug 14, 2003 8:40 UTC (Thu) by gyles (guest, #1600) [Link]

...or even modified versions, as I understand it.

GPL only comes into play when redistribution occurs.

Mostly...

Posted Aug 14, 2003 15:25 UTC (Thu) by Ross (subscriber, #4065) [Link]

Except they don't lose the right to use the kernel. Use isn't covered by copyright
(it is covered by click-to-accept and shrinkwrap agreements) and the GPL doesn't
claim that it is.

But they do lose the right to make copies, distribute derivative works, etc.

Mostly...

Posted Aug 21, 2003 8:53 UTC (Thu) by Wol (guest, #4433) [Link]

Which will shaft them in other ways ...

They can't install it on any new computers, for example. That's making a copy. They can't upgrade the computers that it's installed on. etc etc.

Cheers,
Wol