That's exactly why I'm confused. Does a website count as software distribution? If it doesn't, then it kind of seems like a loophole in the GPL
The phraseology I find interesting is this:
You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to
be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
(italics mine)
See also:
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
On the other hand,
The act of
running the Program is not restricted
The GPL seems to cover distribution or modification + distribution, but not simple operation. What its implications are for modification + operation when in its operation its input-output is to a public space (the Internet) I don't know. Are only the administrators to be considered the operators of the code? Or are the registered users also operators?
Or here's another good one. Slash produces RDF's for distribution. That RDF can reasonably be considered software. So does the source code which produces that need to be available, if you modify it? Does the rest of the source code then need to be available, because of the RDF? As
The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it.
and the preferred form of the work for making modifications to the RDF is the entire Slash package, that would seem to imply that the entire Slash package would need to be available.
And if that line of reasoning is correct, then what if Slash didn't have an RDF? Don't then all the webpages also count as a distribution? Putting up a website seems a lot like the public distribution of a program's output and interface, which I think is covered by the GPL.
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Deliberate with Coolness, Analyze with Criticism, Reflect with Candor.
Re:What an interesting question! (Score:1)
Or here's another good one. Slash produces RDF's for distribution. That RDF can reasonably be considered software. So does the source code which produces that need to be available, if you modify it? Does the rest of the source code then need to be available, because of the RDF? As
and the preferred form of the work for making modifications to the RDF is the entire Slash package, that would seem to imply that the entire Slash package would need to be available.And if that line of reasoning is correct, then what if Slash didn't have an RDF? Don't then all the webpages also count as a distribution? Putting up a website seems a lot like the public distribution of a program's output and interface, which I think is covered by the GPL.
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Deliberate with Coolness, Analyze with Criticism, Reflect with Candor.