GPL License with clause for Web use?

[Ciaran O'Riordan]

Alex Hudson <home at alexhudson.com> writes:
> The choice of whether or not to give someone a copy of free software was
> always inherent in the GPL, the AGPL removes that choice to some extent.

The GPL is designed to allowed private use of modified versions without
requiring source distribution.

The debated point is whether or not giving others public access to run the
software on your computer is a private use of the software.

If a developer thinks that's a private use that should not require making
the source available, they should use the plain GPL (or the AGPL and just
not add any "get the source" feature).  If a developer thinks that's a
public use, they can use the AGPL.

The two licences are compatible, so people can make this decision without
creating any legal barriers to sharing or collaboration.


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