From: anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl)
Subject: Re: Possible GPL Violation of Linux in Amstrad's E3 Videophone (me too???)
To: Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
In-reply-to: <2Lnl4-2w6-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 2004 09:42:54 GMT
Message-ID: <2004Oct4.114254@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at>
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Content-Length: 1223
Lines: 29

Matthew Garrett writes:
>The GPL requires that source be available to anyone who receives a copy
>of the binaries. There are three ways to do this, only two of which
>apply to commercial distribution. You can either:
>
>a) Provide the source alongside the binaries, or
>b) Provide a written offer (a text file on a CD is fine) for the source
>
>You never need to provide the source to anyone you don't provide the
>binaries to

If you go for option b, you have to provide the offer for the source
to _any third party_, so (in combination with option c) anyone could
take the offer and ask you for the source.

If you want to avoid having to keep track of the source code belonging
to a binary version, and keeping it around for three years, better
choose option a.

- anton
-- 
M. Anton Ertl                    Some things have to be seen to be believed
anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at Most things have to be believed to be seen
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html
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