Misconceptions About the GPL

lisah writes "Misconceptions about the widely used GNU General Public License (GPL) continue to plague the free software user community and, according to the ITManagersJournal, 'the confusion is frequently based on misreadings, rumors, secondhand accounts, and what is convenient to believe.' In order to clarify some of the more common misunderstandings about the GPL, Bruce Byfield consulted with three experts: attorney Richard Fontana, one of the main drafters of the third version of the license; Harald Welte of the GPL-Violations project; and David Turner who is assisting with revisions of the license. Together, they help clarify the distributor's role in providing source code to customers, whether GPL is viral or unenforceable, and why some misunderstandings are really rooted in varied interpretations of the law." ITMJ and Slashdot are both owned by OSTG.

Comments

Misconceptions

[Drachemorder]

I'll tell you what misconception annoys me the most. It's the idea that you need to agree to the GPL in order to use the software. I find it highly irritating to be asked to click-through a EULA window containing the GPL when I install a piece of software. The GPL is not a EULA, and you don't really have to agree to the GPL if you only intend to use the software. The GPL gives you rights to modify and redistribute the software; if you don't agree to the GPL, there is nothing else that would give you such rights. The right to use the software is implicit in the fact that it was legally distributed to you.

The GPL

[zo1dberg]

Basically it says something like "Your sourcecode is to be available, penguins are to be worshipped, but are to be referred to as GNU/Penguins, and men are not to shave". If you don't care about all that, you can skip to the end, which is a good part and has Marvin in it.

Re:Still I really dont like it.

[Tweekster]

Actually it doesnt go towards the end user. The GPL is totally irrelevant to the end user. Now it does matter to other developers, but in all honesty the actual user of a project could give a damn. The GPL is not a EULA, because it has no relevancy to the user of the program, but rather dictates what people that want to involve themselves in other activities such as redestribution.

A chef having to give away his recipe because he used GPL spices...worst analogy ever. Reverse it and it would be correct because a developer is not going to take a small amount of gpl code and use that, they are gonna add their small amount of code to a largely GPL base. (well atleast 99% of the developers out there).

How does the GPL force a developer that chooses it as a license to do anything. They made a decision to use it because they like it as a license, they arent forced into using anything. The people that bitch about the GPL are developers that already decided against it, and because they dont use they somehow think it is an "unfair" license (to whom i dont know since they have already chosen not to use it)

I think developers need to get this concept in their head...just because the source is available, doesnt mean you have to use it, and doesnt mean you have the right to use it either. You simply have the option to use it.