Re: GPL and other licences

[Stefaan A Eeckels]

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:09:08 +0100
David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> wrote:

> Stefaan A Eeckels <hoendech@ecc.lu> writes:
> 
> > In the case of unmodified GPLed software the case is moot, because
> > it can be obtained from a large number of sources and has no
> > intrinsic value.
> 
> You can't obtain GPLed software commissioned from me before I have
> finished it.  Licensing the software under the GPL (or intending to do
> so) does not magically make it ubiquitous.  Even when I finish it, it
> does not mean that it ends up on archive servers magically.

Sometimes I despair. 

In the case of our friend Backslash, where he's trying to argue he can
copy GPLed software because his company "gave" him the CD (to file), it
would not be your unfinished software, now would it?

If the company "gave" Backslash a CD with GCC, no-one would care much
if he made a copy of it. If, on the other hand, it would be a copy of
software they commissioned from you, they might care very much if he
did, especially if they didn't intend to distribute it to the
competition. The same, of course, would apply to customised versions of
"ubiquitous" software (not that I should have to mention this, but
since you seem to be in an obtuse phase :-).

Take care,

-- 
Stefaan
-- 
As complexity rises, precise statements lose meaning,
and meaningful statements lose precision. -- Lotfi Zadeh