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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?"

2 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. The real bottom layer ... by DogIsMyCoprocessor · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    in the "cultural strata" of software users - those who use Bonzi Buddy.

    --

    "And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman." "Hello." "Good boy."

  2. Re:"Silicon Valley Has Learned to Love the Bust" by Charlton+Heston · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I love the bust too.

    --
    Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape