7 ms·

in the late 1990s I ran into GCC c++ template issues. I reached out to the ML and I got the reply that those were fixed in the cygnus version, which I could bu

by froh 5y ago

in the late 1990s I ran into GCC c++ template issues. I reached out to the ML and I got the reply that those were fixed in the cygnus version, which I could buy. I'd get the fixed source then. and several GNU projects, too, had the source to future releases only accessible to approved members and closed circles. rms was very clear that the license meant: once you got the tech, you had the right to also get the source. If that meant to pay for the tech, that was perfectly fine. freedom. not free beer.

eatbitseveryday 5y ago
...and what when the "cost" to purchase it exceeds an amount no person or corporation would ever pay? $1bn for source code? Or 10x the USA GDP? Effectively one cannot get the sources.
- endgame 5y ago
  Even GPL2 didn't allow that > Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
  - froh 5y ago
    oh of course it did. neither gpl forces you to put your software source to a public server. all it says is: if I give you binaries under gpl, and only then, I also have to give you the source, and you then have the right to modify and redistribute, under the same terms. if I give the binaries to you under gpl 3, then in addition I have to provide you with tools to install your updated software into your specific drm protected device (and you're explicitly good wrt parents I may hold) neither gpl 2 not gpl 3 anywhere talk about making the source code (or the software) available to anybody free of charge. edit: the key is 'corresponding', with paragraph 3 being about software distribution. 'any third oarty' in the quoted clause b of paragraph 3 references your recipients of the software, not anybody and their neighbor. the meaning is: if you give someone the software, you also give them the source.
- froh 5y ago
  nono. you don't buy the source... you buy whichever product. and for the software parts of it, you get the sources. so you buy $PRINTER, comes with a driver, you also get the source. and with secure boot, you also get a way to update it in the device. if there is no device, like with a compiler, you get some binaries, and the source. which enables you to fix the binaries. the idea behind it was: no lock-in, and the right to repair and evolve what you own. freedom. the anecdote for the origin of software freedom 'enforcement' and protection indeed was a printer: https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html

by froh 5y ago

eatbitseveryday 5y ago

...and what when the "cost" to purchase it exceeds an amount no person or corporation would ever pay? $1bn for source code? Or 10x the USA GDP? Effectively one cannot get the sources.

endgame 5y ago
Even GPL2 didn't allow that > Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
- froh 5y ago
  oh of course it did. neither gpl forces you to put your software source to a public server. all it says is: if I give you binaries under gpl, and only then, I also have to give you the source, and you then have the right to modify and redistribute, under the same terms. if I give the binaries to you under gpl 3, then in addition I have to provide you with tools to install your updated software into your specific drm protected device (and you're explicitly good wrt parents I may hold) neither gpl 2 not gpl 3 anywhere talk about making the source code (or the software) available to anybody free of charge. edit: the key is 'corresponding', with paragraph 3 being about software distribution. 'any third oarty' in the quoted clause b of paragraph 3 references your recipients of the software, not anybody and their neighbor. the meaning is: if you give someone the software, you also give them the source.
froh 5y ago
nono. you don't buy the source... you buy whichever product. and for the software parts of it, you get the sources. so you buy $PRINTER, comes with a driver, you also get the source. and with secure boot, you also get a way to update it in the device. if there is no device, like with a compiler, you get some binaries, and the source. which enables you to fix the binaries. the idea behind it was: no lock-in, and the right to repair and evolve what you own. freedom. the anecdote for the origin of software freedom 'enforcement' and protection indeed was a printer: https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html