The Invisible Hand

[John Cowan]

Russell Nelson wrote:

> RMS is up-front about his objection to the APSL

> [...] for the requirement to publish the source code to deployed
> modifications.  Note that the APSL is not talking about private
> modifications, but instead modifications which have been distributed
> within an enterprise.


One must be careful about the meaning of "distributed".  AFAICT, if I
(a Reuters employee) download APSLed code and make a Modification to it
solely for my own use qua employee, not distributing it within Reuters
at all, that is not Personal Use, it is still Deployed code -- and APSL
clause 2.2.c insists that I publish my Modification to the whole world.

Whether I am sufficiently unconstrained by this for the APSLed software
to count as free is a question I leave to others.  At any rate, the GNU
GPL under the same set of facts does not compel publication of the
modification.

> If you want to keep secret the fact that you
> are using a modified version of a piece of APSL software,


I think the more serious issue is not that an employee desires to
keep secret his modifications, but rather that his employer does
not permit him to publish anything.

-- 
Not to perambulate             || John Cowan <jcowan at reutershealth.com>
    the corridors               || http://www.reutershealth.com
during the hours of repose     || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
    in the boots of ascension.  \\ Sign in Austrian ski-resort hotel

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