Spotting GPL violations
Philip Webster
phil at philipwebster.com
Sat Dec 11 13:21:59 UTC 2004
Hi,
A piece of software has come to my attention that may be violating the
GPL. Details are as follows:
- The software is an interface (GUI, intermediary routines) between a
proprietary operating system and the Free printing system GIMP-Print.
- The company distributing the software is not offering source code, and
has not licensed the derivative work under the GPL.
- The software can only be downloaded after a 'donation' is received to
unlock the download page.
- The software is downloaded as a complete package which includes both
proprietary and GPL-licensed code. The interface itself is useless
without GIMP-Print and was written specifically for it, rather than as
an abstract printer interface and GUI. It is also possible to download
the Free parts separately.
This sounds a LOT like a GPL violation, but I'd be interested to hear
what others' first impressions are.
I'll post some links to more detailed evidence once the initial batch of
responses come in...
Regards,
Phil
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