Peter von Kaehne wrote: > I am a bit confused by a message I saw on the forum regarding Diaspora. > > https://www.crosswire.org/forums/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=498 > > Chris states that diaspora.exe is withdrawn and should not get distributed as > this would be a violation of Crosswire's copyrights. The copy I have is GPL > licensed, tough in absence of source that is not worth much. If there is no > source about, distribution would indeed be in violation of the GPL. > Just a comment regarding the GPL v2. Here is my understanding: GPL does not govern copyrights. The GPL v2 is a source distribution license which guarantees the distribution of source. When the source is not physically distributed with the application, the distributor has the responsibility of making the source available for at least 3 years from initial distribution. This needs to be the version that built the application. If the source is distributed with the application, I don't see any obligation to make the source otherwise available. If the source is not distributed with the application, I don't see any obligation of the GPL beyond 3 years from release to make the source available for distribution. But while there is no obligation to make it available later, GPL source in the wild is GPL forever. After 3 years, or even 100 years, it is still GPL and can still be distributed under the terms of the GPL.
I don't see any obligation in the GPL to provide support or ensure that the source still compiles. This allows a practical mechanism for withdrawing an application: Don't distribute the source with the application and after 3 years from the last release, make the source unavailable. With regard to Windows executables and the use of closed source, non-free compilers, this helps to enforce an "expiration" date. > Diaspora is though - apart from various nefarious uses - also part of the > approved way of creating Palm Bible+ modules. > > http://palmbibleplus.sourceforge.net/createbible.htm > > It appears to be associated (remotely) to Crosswire and is linked to from the > front page. > > Could I get some clarification regarding this piece of software? Is there a > compelling legal reason to suppress it (apart from stupid abusers). Should we > remove the link to Palm Bible+? Is there a better way of getting new modules > into palm Bible+ format? I am not familiar with diaspora or what it was intended for. I think our stance has been, and is, that we will encourage the use of the SWORD/JSword libraries as the only authorized means of using SWORD modules and we will discourage extraction of their content for other uses. The program mod2imp will export all modules to an imp format. JSword has a similar application. Module export applications are incredibly easy for a C++ or Java programmer to write. Because our software is GPL, I don't see how we can prevent the SWORD and JSword libraries from being used in a particular fashion. In Him, DM _______________________________________________ sword-devel mailing list: [email protected] http://www.crosswire.org/mailman/listinfo/sword-devel Instructions to unsubscribe/change your settings at above page
