Author: Gian-Carlo Pascutto
Date: 04:03:06 10/08/00
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On October 08, 2000 at 05:08:01, Mike Adams wrote: > i dont really understand this gnu liscnece. Say i released pulsar under it. >What is to stop someone from making it better and then releasing it as entirely >their own. I wont know if they started from pulsar unless they showed me the >code and i recognized some stuff left over from pulsar. No one is required to >show the code as far as I know so it seems that for someone to prove they >violated the liscence would be hard. This is true, but it is not really a license issue. It can happen no matter what license you distribute your code with. It's a danger of open-sourcing your code. You should also understand that it is possible for someone to modify your program and release it under a different name, as if it would be theirs. The only way that people could know it was yours would be to look at the code. If you think this is a problem, do not use the GPL. The GPL DOES NOT EXIST TO PROTECT THE PROGRAMMER. This is a very common minunderstanding. The GPL consists to protect the rights of the user. > Second one post said i think that if people improve it and you use the >improvements your bound to share them. Only if you distribute the new program and the improvements were also contributed under GPL. >Another post said that you as the >original programmer can use anyones improvments in your next versions without >sharing what you used. This depends on what license they were contributed under. If the improvements were GPL'd theirselves, its not possible to distribute the next version with out sharing them or not using them. But you could, for example, let your program play a tournament with them. >If someone modifies my program and i use the modifications in a version I dont >release the code for, how would anyone know? Depends on what license they were under. If they were GPL'd, you are at fault. Proving that is another matter. Obvious examples: Comet, FICS -- GCP
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