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I think I see where you're coming from, at some point it becomes a question of semantics. > the Affero GPL only differs in that I would have to give you source
by MaxBarraclough 6y ago
I think I see where you're coming from, at some point it becomes a question of semantics.
> the Affero GPL only differs in that I would have to give you source code (edit: previously typed "software") if I supply a binary for you to use over a network
That doesn't sound right. You don't have to distribute a binary for the Affero GPL to require you to release your source. From the FSF:
> The GNU Affero General Public License is a modified version of the ordinary GNU GPL version 3. It has one added requirement: if you run a modified program on a server and let other users communicate with it there, your server must also allow them to download the source code corresponding to the modified version running there.
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.en.html https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-affero-gpl.en.html
- mikekchar 6y agoYes, the "them" refers to the users. If you have users of a binary server, you must allow those users to download the source code. You do not need to allow anyone who is not a user to do so, though. Edit (programmer needs sleep badly): Clearly it doesn't have to be a binary. It's any executable over a network. But you don't have to give the source cod to everyone, that's really my only point :-)
- ComputerGuru 6y agoThe point is that merely communicating with it (i.e. GET / HTTP/1.0) suffices to establish that requirement, even if you are not serving or providing a binary over the network as you previously said.
- mikekchar 6y agoI agree with you. I didn't mean to imply that the binary must be served over the network -- merely that the server is used over the network. The point I was trying to convey is that you only have to provide the source code to the users of the server -- not everybody in the world.