Re: Monta Vista software license terms

[Disconnect <lkml@sigkill.net>]

IANAL and I'm sure someone <couRMSgh> will slap me around if this is
incorrect in any real way.

On Wed, 2003-02-05 at 06:58, Nilmoni Deb wrote:
>  Note that your obligation is strictly to the recipients of binaries
> (i.e., your customers). You have no responsibility to the "community" at
> large."

>From the GPL faq:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesWrittenOfferValid

What does this "written offer valid for any third party" mean? Does that
mean everyone in the world can get the source to any GPL'ed program no
matter what?
        "Valid for any third party" means that anyone who has the offer
        is entitled to take you up on it. 
        
        If you commercially distribute binaries not accompanied with
        source code, the GPL says you must provide a written offer to
        distribute the source code later. When users non-commercially
        redistribute the binaries they received from you, they must pass
        along a copy of this written offer. This means that people who
        did not get the binaries directly from you can still receive
        copies of the source code, along with the written offer.
        
        The reason we require the offer to be valid for any third party
        is so that people who receive the binaries indirectly in that
        way can order the source code from you.
        
        

...so if you have no binaries, you aren't entitled to the source code. 
Many commercial Linux companies offer it anyway (witness Tivo, where the
sources are hard to 'click to' but google will turn up a reasonably well
organized set of GPL sources used on their devices.)  They -could-
insist that you prove you are a customer; they -cannot- insist that you
prove everyone -you- give it to is a customer..
 

> In addition:
> 
> 1. There is no linux kernel source in ftp://ftp.mvista.com/

Call them, identify yourself as a customer, -prove it- and then
complain..


> 2. The download page http://www.mvista.com/previewkit/index.html does not
> claim to offer any source code at all.

See above.. actually.  Scratch that - if they are offering 'public
previews' (haven't hit the site yet) then contact them for sources...
you DID try talking to them first, BEFORE trying to start a witchhunt,
right?

> thanks
> - Nil
> 
> -
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