contracts etc.

contracts etc.

Posted Nov 24, 2003 20:49 UTC (Mon) by coriordan (guest, #7544)
Parent article: Examining an attack on the GPL

(thanks for the great article)
Just to clarify the GPL-is-a-license-not-a-contract issue:

Copyright is a state-granted monopoly, no one is allowed to make a copy of an authors work without being granted permission. When software is released under the GPL, it comes with a license that gives the recipient permission to make copies with certain conditions.

A contract has to be agreed to. You don't have to agree to the GPL, it's simply a grant of rights, and you can use them or not.

(as a small note, the GPL does not require that a work be distributed for free. If you distribute *only*binaries*, you have to make the source code available for free or for the cost of distributing the source code. Of course, the first recipient of the source code can then make it available for zero-cost. The general zero-cost of GPL'd software is due to the free-as-in-market effect.)

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