Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 4 Jan 2006 15:57:14 +0000 | From | Jamie Lokier <> | Subject | Re: blatant GPL violation of ext2 and reiserfs filesystem drivers |
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> Yes. You're not a lawyer. Stop wasting everybody's time by trying to > interpret a legal document.
Matthew, thanks for your abuse. It was not necessary.
As a programmer, it is essential that I, like others, have a reasonable understanding of the GPL. It is not written only for lawyers. I did not nitpick something esoteric; I nitpicked something which is important to real people who deal in GPL software which is not available to the public.
> > That sentence is not clear to me. Are you're saying that it was > > possible to download the object code without source code, or that > > _only_ the object code was available? > > Why don't you go and look instead of quibbling in the abstract? > The binary is *currently* available, and no source code is.
Because this thread kept using the past tense to say what crossmeta _have_ done. As it's still available, why mention 'third parties'? They're irrelevant; the violation is quite straightforward.
> > No. They must provide the 'written offer' to the person downloading > > the binary, if they did not make available source code to that person. > > Why are you bothering to nitpick Harald?
Because he wrote something that, _without context_, is a technical mistake that people sometimes make when talking about the GPL. Like you, I consider it my duty to ensure the GPL is upheld, and in the proper way. I appreciate now that Harald understands it well and his statement was a simplification; others, may not. I've been writing GPL software for 15 years; it's not a new thing to me.
Please understand that I didn't receive these messages through a legal-experts list, where of course I would be far more cautious to comment; I received them on a software development list.
> Do you not realise he understands the GPL better than you do, having > agreed over 30 settlements against people violating it? He's even > got courts to grant injunctions!
That's correct. I did not realise that. That's great! But I haven't known Harald's name before; and also did not know this thread had reached the point of someone actually handling the legal end.
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