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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Requiring copies to be
verbatim is against what the GPL protects: allowing modifications.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The only verbatim copy
that the GPL requires is for the GPL licence itself, and keeping the copyright
assignments and attributions, somewhere with the distribution. Everything else
should be freely modifiable, including in the source files themselves (there’s
no requirement to keep the copyright notices embedded directly within the
sources, despite it is the easiest way to convey them along with the sources,
and clearly document which source is linked to a copyright notice). In fact the
copyright assignments should remain even in a binary distribution, somewhere
within a readme or licence file or in an “about” menu item or help command
line option (so they should be part, in this case, of some sources, or the binary
program may read an external text file provided with the distribution that must
come along with the licence file itself).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>You should also correctly
interpret the term “verbatim”. It means that the textual terms are
preserved (including its punctuation, or even its possible typos), but not
necessarily its exact encoding. Under this consideration, all blanks are
considered equal, including line breaks, and the licence can be provided and
viewed or example in HTML form, provided that the software distribution makes sure
that the licence text is readable and copiable directly from the distribution.
So a mere reencoding of the ASCII-only text of the GPL licence file into EBCDIC
is compliant, if this is the best way to make it readable on an EBCDIC system:
it does not affect the text itself, given that all its characters are preserved
by EBCDIC decoders; you could as well reencode it into UTF-16 or UTF-32 if this
is the way to transport it safely in an environment that requires such
encoding.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The goal is that the text
must remain readable and intact, without creating new distinctions or
confusions (so changing the capitalisation or correcting some punctuation is
not permitted for example, as it changes the semantic of the text and its
possible interpretation). In addition the licence text could be provided as a
PDF, or a bitmap, or a printed document, if there’s no way to access to
the software itself (for example if the GPL is used to cover code in a embedded
device without a file system that is easily accessible to the user without using
some additional software like an EEPROM or NVRAM flashing program).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Or it could be provided
with a separate CDROM that is part of the bundle containing the provided device,
and optionally containing the sources and tools to reprogram it, but that should
provide the written offer to anyone (not just the first recipient of the pack)
giving them the right to get the sources if these sources are not provided
directly within the pack, as soon as they know that the pack is covered by a
GPL licence (and even if they don’t have the pack itself!). For this
reason, the licence must not be hidden and any way that facilitates accessing
to its exact text is welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>De :</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Chris Travers
[mailto:chris.travers@gmail.com] <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Envoyé :</span></b> vendredi 30 novembre
2007 21:45<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>À :</span></b> License Discuss<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Objet :</span></b> Re: [OT?] GPL v3 FUD,
was For Approval: MLL (minimal library license)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Nov 30, 2007 11:43 AM, Alexander Terekhov <<a
href="mailto:alexander.terekhov@gmail.com">alexander.terekhov@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
<br>
* <<a href="mailto:db@FreeBSD.ORG">db@FreeBSD.ORG</a>> wrote this file.
As long as you retain this notice<br>
you<br>
* can do whatever you want with this code, except you may not<br>
* license it under any form of the GPL. <br>
* A postcard or QSL card showing me you appreciate<br>
* this code would be nice. Diane Bruce va3db<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
It seems like an open question whether, if you incorporate a file verbatim
under this license into a GPL'd work whether that is a violation of the
license. IANAL, though. <br>
<br>
It depends on what is meant by "this code," I suppose. An email
to the author for clarification would be a good idea. My narrow reading
of it suggests that there is no compatibility problem (i.e. "this
code" means "this code Diane provided" and does not extend to
modifications made to it) but it would be good to check. Since it is not
safe to assume one can just change the license on permissively licensed code
itself , this would not seem to me to be *any* different than using
ISC-licensed code. <br>
<br>
However, when in doubt, it is a good idea to ask.<br>
<br>
Best Wishes,<br>
Chris Travers<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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