[no subject]

On Tue, 2004-03-30 at 13:47, John Mills wrote:
> ALErs -
> 
> On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 Sigmascape1 at cs.com wrote:
> 
> > Not good.
> > 
> > Vendor slammed for 'selling' patches 
&gt; &gt; <a  rel="nofollow" href="http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5181825.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed";>http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5181825.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed</a>
&gt; 
&gt; &lt;soapbox&gt; As I understand it (&amp;IANAL!!), a vendor delivering software
&gt; under the GPL must make available to those to whom the software was
&gt; delivered, the sources of the delivered software for the subsequent three
&gt; years. This can be done at the time of sale (i.e., including a copy of the
&gt; source with the purchased product), by releasing them to a public
&gt; repository, or (one supposes) by some other mechanism.
&gt; 
&gt; I do not understand this to imply a responsibility to provide either
&gt; sources or executables of product upgrades to purchasers of the
&gt; pre-upgrade versions of the product. It is also quite usual to release
&gt; GPL'd software under a disclaimer of responsibility for product defects:
&gt; often it is not guaranteed to do anything, good or bad.
&gt; 
&gt; Whatever subsequent responsibilities of vendor to purchaser and vice-versa
&gt; should as a matter of good practice be agreed at the time of sale. (Will
&gt; anyone who thinks they understand Microsoft's EULA please stand up.  
&gt; Anyone??)
&gt; 
&gt; We are left with a business decision as to which customers should receive 
&gt; updates, patches, phone support, etc. Some companies will give a free 
&gt; product upgrade if you purchase the superceeded version within a 
&gt; specified interval or the new release's issue. (Borland has offered a 
&gt; 90-day window in which such upgrades could be purchased for a nominal 
&gt; $10.00 -- I don't know if the policy is still in force or which products 
&gt; it may cover.)
&gt; 
&gt; By the way, are &quot;RealSecure&quot; or &quot;BlackIce&quot; in any way covered by the GPL?  
&gt; That would surprise me. If so, any customer receiving the updates could
&gt; make them freely available to anyone they chose, and ISS would have no
&gt; legal recourse. The GPL _does_ work like that: even if you pay for GPL
&gt; released materials, you can give them away (provided _you_ meet the other
&gt; release conditions of the GPL).
&gt; &lt;/soapbox&gt;
&gt; 
&gt; Now - a quick grab for the trusty asbestos gloves and welding goggles!
&gt; 
&gt; Cheers.
&gt;  - John Mills
&gt;    john.m.mills at alum.mit.edu
&gt; 
&gt; _______________________________________________
&gt; Ale mailing list
&gt; Ale at ale.org
&gt; <a  rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale";>http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a>


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