Has anybody actually DOWNLOADED the code from a site and looked at it?
IANAL, but it would appear that this program is not technically GPL'ed... or if the authors intended it to be GPL'ed, they did a lousy job.
In the version of the code I have, only one file has any mention of the GPL, and that's a one line statement on top of a Delphi/Pascal bit of code. As I understand it, the GPL could only be applied to THIS ONE FILE, and it would not necessarily extend to the entire program. Additionally, there is no copy of the LICENSE file, nor the required copyright statement and disclaimer of warranty.
In other words, should this go to court, Mattel will have a perfect loophole to say that the terms of the GNU GPL were not met, therefore, they will be free to re-copyright it any way they see fit and restrict distribution accordingly.
It will be interesting to see if the FSF will be required to testify/submit a deposition supporting Mattel's position...
I picked up this book about a week ago before I was going to make a train trip, and was dissapointed by it. While Gibson does a great job of creating a very believable future (I especially like the visions of the cyberpunk San Francisco, complete with people living on the Bridge), the story falls kinda short. I found it weaves around too much, making some of the subplots a little difficult to follow, especially in the beginning.
The story does move along better towards the end, however. I kinda get the feeling that this may have made a better screenplay... I'm not sorry I purchased it, but I wouldn't recommend anybody buy it unless you are a really big Gibson and/or cyberpunk genre fan. If they ever made a film based on it, though, I'd probably be first in line to buy tickets.
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Has anybody actually DOWNLOADED the code from a site and looked at it?
IANAL, but it would appear that this program is not technically GPL'ed... or if the authors intended it to be GPL'ed, they did a lousy job.
In the version of the code I have, only one file has any mention of the GPL, and that's a one line statement on top of a Delphi/Pascal bit of code. As I understand it, the GPL could only be applied to THIS ONE FILE, and it would not necessarily extend to the entire program. Additionally, there is no copy of the LICENSE file, nor the required copyright statement and disclaimer of warranty.
In other words, should this go to court, Mattel will have a perfect loophole to say that the terms of the GNU GPL were not met, therefore, they will be free to re-copyright it any way they see fit and restrict distribution accordingly.
It will be interesting to see if the FSF will be required to testify/submit a deposition supporting Mattel's position...
The story does move along better towards the end, however. I kinda get the feeling that this may have made a better screenplay... I'm not sorry I purchased it, but I wouldn't recommend anybody buy it unless you are a really big Gibson and/or cyberpunk genre fan. If they ever made a film based on it, though, I'd probably be first in line to buy tickets.