David Schwartz <davids@webmaster.com> said:
[...]
> But you don't need to distribute the rights to the Linux kernel
> because already already has the rights to the Linux kernel.
Yes, because they got them from someone.
> And when
> you say you "get sources .. under the GPL", you're implying that you
> have to assent to the GPL to get sources, but you don't. The GPL is
> not a shrink-wrap agreement and you don't have to assent to it just
> to receive or use sources.
Right.
> There is no distribution issue because
> everyone already has the right to possess and use every GPL'd work,
> so there are no rights to distribute.
Maybe putting a binary up on FTP or giving it to you on a CD can't be taken
legally as agreeing to GPL, but I'd consider that rather far-fetched. AFAIU,
if I have a copyright on something I have the legal right to stop anybody
from using it against my will, a license is just an expression of what I
allow you to do. GPL is a license using copyright, it just gives everybody
the right to do as they please and only restricts redistribution.
In any case, IANAL. And I believe you aren't either, so this discussion is
irrelevant. Get a lawyer versed in this stuff to check out your theory.
-- Dr. Horst H. von Brand User #22616 counter.li.org Departamento de Informatica Fono: +56 32 654431 Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria +56 32 654239 Casilla 110-V, Valparaiso, Chile Fax: +56 32 797513 - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Feb 15 2003 - 22:00:38 EST