Re: [Bkm-devel] Hello and introduction

[Daniel R. <rem...@ya...>]

Jack,

> Patrice just added me as a BKM developer and as a matter of introduction, I
> operate Sync2It.com and have incorporated BKM as a value added addition to
> the site.  The changes I've made to BKM are mostly cosmetic at this point.
> I would like to add the following to the code.

I was looking at Sync2It, and had some concerns about license issues.

The GPL (which Bookmark-Manager is released under) requires the source code of
any modified (even trivally or cosmetically) modification to GPL'ed software to
be made available (see footnote for more info); I didn't see any source
download links for Sync2It's version of Bookmark-Manager.  Please correct me if
you have posted the sources somewhere.

The easy way to fix this is to post the source, or a statement saying that the
source is available on request, and how to get it.

If you have concerns about proprietary code you may have integrated, another
option is to wrap that code in a DLL and get Patrice to write an exception for
that DLL into BKM's license notices (such exceptions already exist for several
DLL's that Patrice wrote or modified), and distribute the remaining sources a
la the GPL.

The final option (and least desireable IMHO, as it prevents Sync2It users from
upgrading Bookmark-Manager if you stop maintaining your copy, as well as
preventing the community as a whole from benefiting from improvements you've
made) is to ask Patrice for a separate license agreement for Sync2It (if you
have already done this, please forgive me), in which case you should remove the
GPL notices from the installer and documentation, as the software would no
longer be under the GPL's restrictions.

More information on the specific requirements of the GPL are available at
http://www.gnu.org  (see the footnote for their FAQ about requiring source
releases)

Please don't misinterpret my intentions; I like seeing BKM used and improved
(especially since you've joined the development team).  I just want to make
sure legal issues don't come back to bite us (or you) in the butt.

--Daniel Remenak

(footnote)
The Free Software Foundation (www.gnu.org) has the following statement in their
GPL FAQ:

Q: Does the GPL require that source code of modified versions be posted to the
public?

A: The GPL does not require you to release your modified version. You are free
to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This
applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a
modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the
organization.
But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL
requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users,
under the GPL.
Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways,
and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.

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