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GPL and Leased Software?

Posted by Cliff on from the tricky-licensing-issues dept.

LordByronStyrofoam asks: "In the body of the article linked in the recent Silicon Valley Has Learned to Love the Bust, Salesforce.com and IBM were said to be planning to lease or rent software. IBM did this for many years back when they controlled the big iron market. It reveals a bottom layer in the cultural strata of software users: those who use Free Software; those who click through EULA's and the associated closed-source licenses; and the lowly renters. Do renters of GPL software have no rights under the GPL? Is this situation similar to the one where the makers of DSL/cable routers don't have to provide the source, even though the devices are based on embedded Linux?"

3 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Inflammatory by Gizzmonic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It reveals a bottom layer in the cultural strata of software users: those who use Free Software;

    Okay, that's just not true. Is there a "caste" system for software users? I would certainly hope not, to create one would be a pointless and self-indulgent intellectual exercise.

    But even if there were to be such a thing, would free software users belong at the bottom? Some would say yes, because they're cheap. But if you think about it, actually free software users require a lot more from their software.

    We don't like bugs. We don't like bloat. We don't like giving up control of our files in exchange for shiney, flashy interfaces. As a result, very few softwares (like Apache for instance) meet our standards.

    Damn this kind of stratification, but if it does exist, put free software users at the top of the pyramid, where we belong. You can put the braindead 12 yearolds downloading from Kazaa at the bottom.

    --
    (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
  2. What about ASPs? by The+Bungi · · Score: 4, Interesting
    So let's say that this "leasing" is really taking place in the form of an Application Service Provider. Let's say then that (as per the GPL - flame me if I'm wrong, please) I modified OpenOffice or something and I'm offering it as an online service. But I'm not giving you the source. Technically I'm not engaging in redistribution of a modified version of something covered by the GPL, right?

    OTOH, if leasing is physical distribution of the software under some sort of license, then I suppose the GPL would apply.

  3. The ASP problem by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is a special version of the GPL called the Affero GPL for ASP software that is not distributed. The rather kludgy solution is that the software is required to regurgitate its own source on command, over the net! This problem will be further addressed, hopefully in a more practical fashion, in GPL 3.

    --
    Bruce Perens.