FDL and online publishing

Laurent moky.math at gmail.com
Tue Sep 18 16:22:58 UTC 2007


     Hello everyone !


    I have a question about the GNU-FDL licence when I publish a 
document on the web. My problem is the interpretation of the rule "100 
copy => transparent format".
    When I publish a FDL-licensed document on-line (free download) do 
have to suppose that the 100 copy rule applies ?

   I have two user-case.

1. I typeset a LaTeX document for basis school in physics. The website 
where I publish only accepts one file[1]. So I prefer to publish a pdf 
version instead of a zip with the pdf and the LaTeX sources files. This 
is simpler for the reader. The pdf format being an opaque format, do I 
violate my own FDL licence ?
    Of course, I left my email address in the document and I send LaTeX 
source-files to everyone ask.


2. The second user case is much more trollful ... but it is truth. We 
want to create collaborative physics and mathematics texbooks[2], but 
most of potential collaborators are Word-users. You know that arguments 
like "freedom, interoperability and so on" do not work because "everyone 
has Word, thus in fact OOo is not interoperable" ... hum ...
    A good argument in order to use an open format and FDL licence is 
that one cannot make "copy-paste" from Wikipedia to Word and publish the 
result on the web because of Wikipedia's FDL licence.

So : does the FDL imposes the "100 copy" rule to any on-line document ?

Thanks a lot
Laurent



[1] Namely : 
http://www.enseignons.be/secondaire/preparations-34-mecanique-optique-relativite-4262.html
[2] In french. If you are interested, see
http://www.enseignons.be/forum/ftopic5306-0-asc-20.php



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