The "preferred form" issue

The "preferred form" issue

Perhaps it's time to audit distros, looking for C code that came out of specialized preprocessors that are not included and that winds up linked with GPL code.

The "preferred form" issue also comes up when people license non-software works under the GPL. If you distribute an image under the GPL, and you created it with the Gimp, no one can pass it on if you didn't include the preferred form for making modifications; if you save your work in XCF, that's the "source" (likewise for Photoshop users it's the PSD). If you distribute music, and you produced it by mixing, again you haven't provided the preferred form (so your recipients can remix it). If it's a document, you can't just include a PDF, that isn't the source. The preferred form is the form that you, the author, preferred (perhaps you like LaTeX, or maybe LibreOffice).

$ grep "preferred form" debian-l-index | wc -l
1232338473763 lines
$ :D