[Fsfe-ie] GPL query

Rory Browne rbmlist at gmail.com
Wed Jun 24 18:20:13 CEST 2009


>>> "We have a code released under GPL2, the source is available for
>>> download over the web and by subversion. However, we would like to
>>> have
>>> some better stats of who our users are and how many they are.
>>> Unfortunately, its impossible to track people downloading the code
>>> via
>>> subversion.

Without knowing what the application is or what it does, it might be
worth considering putting a step into the application that 'calls
home' every time it's installed. In the interests of
not-being-an-asshole, you should allow the administrator to decide
against registering their details, but I think most people will not
mind if it's a transparent process. You could also add the option to
anonymise the call home - that would allow you to know how many
installs, but deny you their contact information.

If you make it difficult for administrators to retain their privacy,
others will probably just remove this functionality and redistribute
the software.

Rory


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