Restriction on distribution by Novell?

[Matthew Flaschen]

Rick Moen wrote:

> Doesn't anyone _read_ the text?  Any lawful recipient (including
> non-customers given copies of the work by customers) may invoke Novell's
> clause 3b obligation to furnish corresponding source code to any third
> party.

I certainly agree with you there, but I would go even farther.  Though 
most people requesting source would probably have a copy of the 
associated binary, the GPL does not require this.  You can have the 
binary of a different version, or no binary at all.  This is a good way 
to get a copy of the source (which you can then compile to binary) if no 
one wants to give you a copy in any form.

Obviously, this is unpleasant for some redistributors; as someone 
suggested earlier, this is probably deliberate (to get redistributors to 
provide source with binaries up front instead).

Matthew Flaschen