Possible GPL violation by Armorware inc

[Christian Mueller]

Am Samstag, 10. Dezember 2005 13:35 schrieb John:
> It's a great pity that the gpl doesn't limit selling. 
[...]
> Does the add on code represent reasonable value for money? 
> If not then the gpl holders aught to be able to stop 
> them from both using and selling it or 
> maybe even charge them for using it. 


I disagree.  If someone finds a customer who is willing 
to pay there's nothing wrong.  It's part of the freedom 
that Open Source software / Free software offers (of course 
they still have to comply with the license and offer the 
source in some way that's acceptable according to the license). 

The good and important thing here is that they cannot restrict 
redistribution (and even less that of the code they've taken) 
so there's no lock-in, and if you feel that the price is 
too high you will certainly find someone who offers 
you the GPL software at a reasonable price or for free. 

As you said, in order to find customers they would have 
to add value by providing additional tools, polish, 
marketing, ... to justify the price. 
By looking at what armorware offers I doubt they will 
find too many people who are willing to pay that high 
a price.  So IMHO this thread is a discussion about 
something that's a non-issue in practice. 

The only real question is whether they comply with 
the involved licenses:  Offer the source (both, of what they've taken 
and their modifications thereof) and keep copyright notices intact. 
That I cannot say but we've not seen a proof that they don't. 


Christian. 

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