Craig White wrote:
On Sun, 2006-01-01 at 00:08 +0800, John Summerfied wrote:
Craig White wrote:
Things like flash player, though free are not open source and are
available in binary format only which creates an issue if distributed in
conjunction with software that is GPL license.
Please, research this point and show is what the problem is.
I believe there is not problem distributing GPL and non-free software as
part of the same collation.
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http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#OrigBSD
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I thought you were saying that there was a problem if software (such as
gcc) which is covered by the GPL was part of the same collation.
Let me say, IANAL.
The FAQ does not refer to that issue.
Mozilla is not licenced under of the terms of the GPL, and so its terms
are not relevant.
Even if it were licenced under the GPL, the premable to the GPL says,
"We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software."
That is, the licence deals with distribution of the software, not how
users use it. The FAQ deals with how it's used, and IMV is outside the
scope of the licence.
The problem Red Hat has is that it cannot support flash, java and such.
Red Hat got burned with CDE some years ago; I imagine this is a factor
in its current attitude. Other vendors do distribute varying amounts of
closed-source software.
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http://www.macromedia.com/licensing/distribution/faq/#item-1-9
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There is, I think, some room to debate what "repackaging" might mean.
I'd think an unaltered tarball, zip file or rpm would not constitute
repackaging, but the software owners might differ.
Then there are patent issues as Rahul suggested with things like audio
and video codecs/formats which could present a sticky wicket for a
distribution.
I wonder how many Americans know what a sticky wicket is?
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heck - we don't even understand cricket.
The World Cup's coming to a place near you soon. Part was to be played
in USA, but there were travel issues, so you'll need to schedule a
Carribean holiday to take it in.
Such pain:-)
--
Cheers
John
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