Plan 9 license

[David Johnson]

On Wed, 30 Aug 2000, Chris Sloan wrote:

> Is this really true?
> 
> My understanding was that a legal entity can make private
> modifications to GPL software and is allowed to keep those
> modifications private, but if they choose to distribute the modified
> version, they are required to distribute the source to the
> modifications under the GPL.

If it is wrong for you as a person to give your friend a copy of a
modified GPL program, then forbid him to redistribute it, then it is
equally wrong for a corporation to do forbid the same of an employee
who it has given a copy. It doesn't matter if the corporation is a
legal entity or not, because the employee definitely *is*.

> So, since a corporation is allowed to make private changes, I don't
> see why they could not instruct their employees to keep those changes
> private to the company.
> 
> Have I misunderstood something here?

No, you haven't really misunderstood anything. It's just that
there's a lot of fuzziness and wrinkles surrounding private
modifications. I presented my previous post, and the above opinion, in
black-and-white terms. But reality is usually gray (or at least
swirled splotches of black and white). For example, to restate what
you said, "since you are allowed to make private changes, I don't see
why you could not instruct your friends to keep your changes private
between you." Stated that way, it seems quite sensible. But what about
*forbidding* your friends to redistribute under penalty of lawsuit?

My previous post said "As long as I personally possess a copy, I can
redistribute it." Some questions to ponder: does the employee really
possess a copy while he or she remains on the corporation premises
(does your friend have the right to redistribute the software he picked
up off your desk at home)? Did the corporation give the employee copy
for his own, or did it just "lend" a copy for him to work on?

In any case, the original scenario was that corporations had an
advantage over private businesses in reference to GPLd software. I'll
re-enter the world of the black-and-white and say absolutely not. If a
corporation can forbid its employees from redistributing modifications,
then so can an unincorporated private business.

 -- 
David Johnson
_________________________
<http://www.usermode.org>