4 ms·

As a friendly pile-on, yes, you do have to agree to the terms of the GNU license or cease using the software. That's in black-and-white in the text of the agree

As a friendly pile-on, yes, you do have to agree to the terms of the GNU license or cease using the software. That's in black-and-white in the text of the agreement, along with making the source available and releasing changes to the source code under the same or later license. My hypothetical model is choose not to do GNU's marketing. Frankly, they do a good job of it without my help. However, I cannot hide the fact that the software is GNU licensed. The EULA-style pop-up approach is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but presenting the license before download is vitally important.

FigBug 9y ago
Not really. According to the GNU FAQ if you only use GPL software and don't distribute it then there are no conditions that apply. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#NoDistributionRequirements https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#NoDistributionR...
RandomOpinion 9y ago
> As a friendly pile-on, yes, you do have to agree to the terms of the GNU license or cease using the software. That is incontrovertibly false and has always been false. Per the GPL v.2, clause 5 (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html): "5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it." A end-user is free to run GPL software without accepting the terms of the license. However, they may not distribute it (modified or not) without accepting the terms of the license.

FigBug 9y ago

Not really. According to the GNU FAQ if you only use GPL software and don't distribute it then there are no conditions that apply. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#NoDistributionRequirements https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#NoDistributionR...

RandomOpinion 9y ago

> As a friendly pile-on, yes, you do have to agree to the terms of the GNU license or cease using the software. That is incontrovertibly false and has always been false. Per the GPL v.2, clause 5 (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html): "5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it." A end-user is free to run GPL software without accepting the terms of the license. However, they may not distribute it (modified or not) without accepting the terms of the license.