At Sat, 11 Dec 2004 13:21:59 +0000, Philip Webster wrote:
Hi, A piece of software has come to my attention that may be violating the GPL. Details are as follows:
- The software is an interface (GUI, intermediary routines) between a
proprietary operating system and the Free printing system GIMP-Print.
- The company distributing the software is not offering source code, and
has not licensed the derivative work under the GPL.
The question is whether this is really a derivative work. "An interface" doesn't really say anything, it can be a library interface or it could talk over some protocol using sockets.
- The software can only be downloaded after a 'donation' is received to
unlock the download page.
This on itself is allowed under the GPL, but you aren't allowed to add extra restrictions on the software downloaded.
- The software is downloaded as a complete package which includes both
proprietary and GPL-licensed code. The interface itself is useless without GIMP-Print and was written specifically for it, rather than as an abstract printer interface and GUI. It is also possible to download the Free parts separately.
This sounds a LOT like a GPL violation, but I'd be interested to hear what others' first impressions are.
I'll post some links to more detailed evidence once the initial batch of responses come in...
Not giving all information is really counterproductive with things like this. If you don't give the details, I can't give a good opinion about it.
Jeroen Dekkers