Re: GNU licenses

[mike4ty4]

Alfred M. Szmidt wrote:
> But GPL software due to the nature of the license requires the code
>    be released and that's what I mean by "open-source".
>
> Again, please stop confusing the Free Software movement with the Open
> Source movement.  They are two different movements, with two different
> goals; and we do not wish to be confused with them.
>

Like I tried to explain, I mean something different by "open-source"
than
you do, just like I do with "automatic" and "force" and I tried to
define it:
"open source" in my mind means having the source code available,
as opposed to "closed source" meaning the source code is withheld.

> The GNU GPL does not require you to release anything. It requires you
> that if you distribute or modify code licensed under the GNU GPL, then
> you must abide by that license.  It also requires that if you
> distribute works based on GNU GPL licensed code, then those people who
> recive copies must recive the same rights as you have to run, study,
> distribute and modify the program.
>

Oh, so one distributes the _combined work_ as GPL right?

>    > Again, you do not give up any right to the original code, you are
>    > still the copyright holder of it.  If you use someone elses code,
>    > then you must abide by that liecnse; in this case the GNU GPL.
>
>    That's what I mean! If I want to use the other person's code I have
>    to agree to the license, which requires me to give up some rights,
>    to "pay" so to speak, or not use it at all.
>
> You do not give up any rights, you are still the copyright holder.
> You can license your code in whatever way you wish.  But it is no
> longer just your code if you incoperate someone else copyrighted
> works.
>

Oh, it's part of the _combined work_ right, which is treated as a
distinct work. The original code is still mine. I didn't give up any
rights to it, I just distributed a particular program based on it under
a particular license.

Thanks.

> Again, this has been explained many times to you.

Well I guess I didn't quite understand it, and now I do. And if it
was deep in all those posts where people are responding to
each other here (other than me), I would never have seen it
because there's jsut too many of them for me to want to
sit through it and some contained legalese and discussions I
could _not_ follow without devoting more time than I wanted
to. I only looked at those posts in direct response to mine or
at most 1 level below them, and I couldn't quite grasp what
was going on.

Maybe GNU isn't as bad as I thought. Thanks for the
answers.