Nicolas George <nicolas$george@salle-s.org> wrote:
> If the people who insist on non-commercial redistributions are worried about
> unscrupulous scoundrels re-selling their code in a box to uninformed
> clients, a clause insisting that anyone distributing the software must
> clearly state it can be also downloaded gratis on the official web site
> would do the trick just as well. And such a clause would be perfectly
> compatible with any definition of libre software.

  Actually I think the GPL doesn't demand that the source code must be
distributed publicly (eg. on the internet) nor separately from the
program itself. It just demands that the source code must be provided
if requested. In other words, the GPL doesn't require you to set up a
free service which provides the source code of the program (because such
a requirement would be questionable, as it might mean someone would have to
spend money on buying website space or such).

  The easiest way to comply with this is to put the source code in the
compilation CD along with the program. Basically this means that if you
want the source code, you'll have to pay for the CD. (Of course this
doesn't stop someone who has bought the CD from distributing the source
code in their website, but still...)

> The whole point to be able to sell libre software is to be able to sell it
> as part of a service. That service can be as trivial as sending a CD-ROM to
> a place where broadband Internet access is not available, and the fee will
> be very small. Or that service can be a complete software solution for a big
> society, with customization to particular needs and maintenance contracts.

  What I'm worried about is that some people have got the wrong idea about
GPL and do not realize that their software could actually be used by
someone to make big profit, which might not have been the intention of
the original author.
  (Sure, the nature of the GPL makes it pretty hard to make big profit
in the long run, but it's still theoretically possible.)

  I still have the opinion that even if you restrict your software
license so that it cannot be distributed for money, it can still be
called free.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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