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It might be better to think of it like this: A distribution of Linux you happen to use (like Debian) might be entirely freely GPL components. If you ship anyt
by mjevans 7y ago
It might be better to think of it like this:
A distribution of Linux you happen to use (like Debian) might be entirely freely GPL components. If you ship anything that includes those, you are also required to provide (or at least provide if asked) a copy of the source code, For that Component.
If you have a proprietary program that happens to run inside of that Linux distribution, but otherwise does not use GPL/etc sources, that doesn't need to be distributed as such. It's generally better for your customers to not stand in the way of them fixing things/using newer versions of the free upstream, and re-combining in the provided application to form a new version of the whole. That's one of the issues later versions of the GPL tried to address.