[Asterisk-Users] GPL thoughts

[Jim Van Meggelen]

asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
> On Tuesday 26 October 2004 12:33, Adam Hart wrote:
>> Remember the requirements of GPL is regarding distribution, not use,
>> you can do what ever you like with it internally, with no requirement
>> to publish it. Config files being GPL doesn't really make sense as
>> you would only ever be distributing them as they are anyway (not
>> compiling them) 
>> 
>> GPL in a simple sense (feeling free to correct me on this) is "if you
>> give some the binary of software containing source under GPL, you
>> must also give them the source"
> 
> 
> Thanks Adam!
> 
> Now lets think one step further.
> 
> If we add a patch for the program to read some of the
> configuration files,
> which are encrypted. This patch would be brought back to the
> open source
> community and if they accept it, it could be implemented. If
> they don't you
> still can get the patch from other places.
> 
> The patch opens with a key the encrypted file and checks against the
> registration server if the script is licensed to the
> customer. If yes,
> everthing is ok,  if not than the system can still use the
> script for demo
> purposes for one hour.

You mean you'd install a system that would stop functioning as soon as
it lost connection to some off-site registration server? How would you
position such a solution to a customer? What benefit is in it for them?

> What is with that thought?

Technically you could probably make something like that work, but I
would think you'd scare away a lot of customers with such a scheme. If
they want to get locked into a
"you-don't-really-own-your-software-we-do" kind of licensing model, why
wouldn't they just go to one of the big-name manufacturers?


> Note that I changed the word from configuration file to "script",
> which could be an external program, called by the configuration file.
> 
> bye
> 
> Ronald
> 
>> 
>> -Adam
>> 
>> Ronald Wiplinger wrote:
>>> I have just a quick question:
>>> 
>>> Are the configuration files are covered from GPL ???
>>> 
>>> I doubt so, but would like to make sure. The configuration files
>>> (/etc/asterisk/* ) include passwords, which I hardly would like
>>> that it must be public ;-) 
>>> 
>>> My thinking is to get my work somehow paid, by creating special
>>> configuration files for special solutions.
>> 
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