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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?"

1 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Inflammatory by Saint+Stephen · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I read it differently, but it's a little stilted:

    I think he meant GPL is at top, and the "lowly" renter is at bottom.