[Web4lib] Koha

[Cary Gordon]

Hi Nicole,

If they only offer this code as a hosted service, it isn't really a
loophole, inasmuch as I do not think that it was an oversight. I offer
a hosted version of Drupal for libraries (LibrarySite), and if I
wanted to fork Drupal Core and call it my own, it would be permissible
under GPLv2. My friends and possibly my dog would abandon me, but it
would be legal.

Cary

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 4:38 PM, Nicole Engard <nengard at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 7:24 PM, Cary Gordon <listuser at chillco.com> wrote:
>> All of this leads me to wonder if the folks at PTFS have really read
>> the GNU v2 license.
>>
>> As a board member of a major FLOSS project licensed under GNU v2, I
>> have, and my understanding is that anything released that references
>> or contains project code can be modified and exploited commercially so
>> long as the source code is included in the distribution. Once that
>> code has been delivered, it is also subject to the terms of the
>> license and the seller may not restrict the purchaser from
>> distributing it (for free, or course).
>
> Cary,
>
> It is my understanding that there is a loop hole in that - basically
> if the code is hosted on their servers they don't have to provide the
> code to those using it.  This is why discussion has been going on
> regarding changing the license to prevent exploiting of this loop hole
> in future Koha releases.
>
> Nicole C. Engard
>



-- 
Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://chillco.com