MySQL AB holds the copyright and the trademark to MySQL. They are a business trying to make money just like NuSphere. NuSphere made a mistake distributing the binaries without the available source, but they fixed that and are still being penalized. It seems to me like NuSphere is being punished by a change in strategy at MySQL AB.
> So, according to the plaintiffs, if I violate the GPL (say, by forgetting to date one of my changes, as required by 2a), I can never distribute the program again?
No one is free to distribute software that doesn't belong to them. So you can't distribute GPL'd software without the copywrite owner's permission. However, you *can* distribute software that does belong to you and is not covered by the GPL.
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MySQL AB holds the copyright and the trademark to MySQL. They are a business trying to make money just like NuSphere. NuSphere made a mistake distributing the binaries without the available source, but they fixed that and are still being penalized. It seems to me like NuSphere is being punished by a change in strategy at MySQL AB.
> So, according to the plaintiffs, if I violate the GPL (say, by forgetting to date one of my changes, as required by 2a), I can never distribute the program again?
No one is free to distribute software that doesn't belong to them. So you can't distribute GPL'd software without the copywrite owner's permission. However, you *can* distribute software that does belong to you and is not covered by the GPL.