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The AGPL requires you to provide source to "all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network." If I have a factory, and my line workers use te

The AGPL requires you to provide source to "all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network." If I have a factory, and my line workers use terminals that talks to my central server, do I have to provide them with a copy of my source code? If I own a store that has price scanners that check a central database, do I have to make source code available to all customers? If I have an airline that contains in-flight entertainment units, do I have to provide source code to every passenger?

esotericn 7y ago
If the code in question were licensed under the AGPL, yes to all three, I would think. If you modify AGPL code and redistribute it or offer its services over a network, you've created a derived work which is not solely 'your source code'. What you need to provide is the collective including the modifications. You can avoid this by not using AGPL licensed code.
belorn 7y ago
> If I have a factory, and my line workers use terminals that talks to my central server, do I have to provide them with a copy of my source code? No, and the FAQ for AGPL (http://www.affero.org/oagf.html http://www.affero.org/oagf.html) explains that AGPL and GPL works identical in this matter. Organization that just makes the copies for itself is not distributing, and as such not bound by the conditions for distributing (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#InternalDistribution https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#InternalDistrib...). > If I own a store that has price scanners that check a central database > If I have an airline that contains in-flight entertainment units Grey zones. It depend on copyright law. All interaction with copyrighted material is not distribution. I can look at a building without the architect being owned money. I should be able to sleep in a hotel without the architect having a copyright claim. Can I take a photo? That is debated. Can I buy and sell the building? maybe. I would personally think that a price scanner is not conveying the work of internal workings of the store, but a agpl game in an in-flight entertainment units is conveying copies of the art to passengers just like a movie. Ask a lawyer and the answer should be "it depend", just like any other legal area which does not have clear bright lines.

esotericn 7y ago

If the code in question were licensed under the AGPL, yes to all three, I would think. If you modify AGPL code and redistribute it or offer its services over a network, you've created a derived work which is not solely 'your source code'. What you need to provide is the collective including the modifications. You can avoid this by not using AGPL licensed code.

belorn 7y ago

> If I have a factory, and my line workers use terminals that talks to my central server, do I have to provide them with a copy of my source code? No, and the FAQ for AGPL (http://www.affero.org/oagf.html http://www.affero.org/oagf.html) explains that AGPL and GPL works identical in this matter. Organization that just makes the copies for itself is not distributing, and as such not bound by the conditions for distributing (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#InternalDistribution https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#InternalDistrib...). > If I own a store that has price scanners that check a central database > If I have an airline that contains in-flight entertainment units Grey zones. It depend on copyright law. All interaction with copyrighted material is not distribution. I can look at a building without the architect being owned money. I should be able to sleep in a hotel without the architect having a copyright claim. Can I take a photo? That is debated. Can I buy and sell the building? maybe. I would personally think that a price scanner is not conveying the work of internal workings of the store, but a agpl game in an in-flight entertainment units is conveying copies of the art to passengers just like a movie. Ask a lawyer and the answer should be "it depend", just like any other legal area which does not have clear bright lines.