Re: Licensing/Installer Questions

[Corinna Vinschen <corinna-cygwin@cygwin.com>]

On Mar  3 07:01, Michael Banks wrote:
> If we have a link on our website to download our product, which contains a few open-source cygwin tools, then is it OK to have a separate link to download the sources of those tools, just to try and save some bandwidth? Would it be OK to have text on the website like "Our product uses a number of open-source tools. To comply with the licesing for these tools, we are required to provide the source code for them. The source code is available upon request, so please contact us at yyy@zzz.com if interested."

The basic GPL rules are

- The recipient has the right to get the sources the same way as the
  binaries.  If you provide a binary CD, put the sources onto the same
  CD or provide an extra source CD.  If you provide the binaries by ftp
  or http, provide the sources under the same URL as the binaries.  This
  is according to GPL section 3a.  It's the way Cygwin is provided by us.

- If you don't provide the sources, you must provide a *written* offer,
  valid for at least three years, to provide the source code on request.
  This is according to GPL section 3b.

Whatever, please note you have to provide the *exact* sources of the
tools provided to the customer.  If you send the binary foo, version 1.3
and the customer wants the sources three years later, you must provide
the source of foo-1.3.  You must not provide the source for version
foo-2.7, just because that's the most recent version of the project foo
at the time of the request.  You are required to keep the sources of the
exact version you provided.  I hope that's clear.

However, I can only really suggest to read the GPL closely and to
consult a layer who is specialised in licensing issues.  Whatever I tell
you, I'm not a lawyer.  As another measurement, I would ask you to
contact Red Hat for any more special questions.  For your convenience I
have attached the important links for you:


  GPL:     http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
  GPL FAQ: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html
  Red Hat: http://www.redhat.com/software/cygwin/


Corinna

-- 
Corinna Vinschen                  Please, send mails regarding Cygwin to
Cygwin Project Co-Leader          cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Red Hat