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The article is very critical of Rémi Denis-Courmont, but isn't it Apple's own fault in the end? They're the ones who decided to make the App Store license incom

by pluies 16y ago

The article is very critical of Rémi Denis-Courmont, but isn't it Apple's own fault in the end? They're the ones who decided to make the App Store license incompatible with the GPL.

cstross 16y ago
Is it necessarily incompatible? Do the terms of service of the App store prevent the source code of the VLC iOS app from being redistributed freely? (If not, then anyone with a copy of XCode and an iOS device could compile and install it on their own device, and with an iOS developer license would be free to install on others. And in principle to make and distribute derivative works.) As RMS has frequently noted, the GPL doesn't prevent anyone from charging money for binaries of GPL'd code -- it just requires them to permit redistribution of the source.
- elwin 16y ago
  The problem isn't with the source code but with the binary. The GPL doesn't allow additional restrictions on what the user can do with it after getting it, whether it was paid for or not. That's what the developer filed the complaint over.
- tzs 16y ago
  > Do the terms of service of the App store prevent the source code of the VLC iOS app from being redistributed freely? GPL is not about source access. Source access is an implementation detail in order to achieve the aims of GPL. What the GPL is about is ensuring that the following three things apply to every user of the software: They are free to run the software, for any purpose. They are free to study how it works, and to make changes to it. (GPL requires source availability because source is necessary to reasonably do this). They are free to give away copies of the software (the original or their modified version), as source or binaries. To achieve this for every user, it is necessary for the GPL to disallow distributors of GPL software from contractually or otherwise making recipients agree to refrain from doing the above things. The problem with the App Store and GPL is that the TOS for the App Store requires the recipient to contractually agree to not do some of the above things.
jonhendry 16y ago
" They're the ones who decided to make the App Store license incompatible with the GPL." No. It's the fault of whoever submitted an app covered by an incompatible license. Apple didn't change their terms after the fact to exclude GPL.
- st3fan 16y ago
  They actually made a bunch of changes to make the App Store more compatible with the GPL.

by pluies 16y ago

The article is very critical of Rémi Denis-Courmont, but isn't it Apple's own fault in the end? They're the ones who decided to make the App Store license incompatible with the GPL.

cstross 16y ago

Is it necessarily incompatible? Do the terms of service of the App store prevent the source code of the VLC iOS app from being redistributed freely? (If not, then anyone with a copy of XCode and an iOS device could compile and install it on their own device, and with an iOS developer license would be free to install on others. And in principle to make and distribute derivative works.) As RMS has frequently noted, the GPL doesn't prevent anyone from charging money for binaries of GPL'd code -- it just requires them to permit redistribution of the source.

elwin 16y ago
The problem isn't with the source code but with the binary. The GPL doesn't allow additional restrictions on what the user can do with it after getting it, whether it was paid for or not. That's what the developer filed the complaint over.
tzs 16y ago
> Do the terms of service of the App store prevent the source code of the VLC iOS app from being redistributed freely? GPL is not about source access. Source access is an implementation detail in order to achieve the aims of GPL. What the GPL is about is ensuring that the following three things apply to every user of the software: They are free to run the software, for any purpose. They are free to study how it works, and to make changes to it. (GPL requires source availability because source is necessary to reasonably do this). They are free to give away copies of the software (the original or their modified version), as source or binaries. To achieve this for every user, it is necessary for the GPL to disallow distributors of GPL software from contractually or otherwise making recipients agree to refrain from doing the above things. The problem with the App Store and GPL is that the TOS for the App Store requires the recipient to contractually agree to not do some of the above things.

jonhendry 16y ago

" They're the ones who decided to make the App Store license incompatible with the GPL." No. It's the fault of whoever submitted an app covered by an incompatible license. Apple didn't change their terms after the fact to exclude GPL.

st3fan 16y ago
They actually made a bunch of changes to make the App Store more compatible with the GPL.