[Asterisk-biz] distribution of asterisk

[Kevin P. Fleming]

trixter aka Bret McDanel wrote:

> that specifically was part of editline, if I were to distribute a binary
> only version (legal under the gpl so long as I have a written offer good
> for 3 years for code at cost basically) I need to include that to the
> credits file or other suitable place.  Any advertising I do needs to
> have  that as well should I advertise a feature (like the cli).

It is my understanding (but IANAL of course) that the included 
components in the Asterisk distribution that are not part of Asterisk 
itself can be (and are) licensed under other compatible licenses, are 
not disclaimed to Digium, etc. You are correct in your statement that 
any binary distributions of Asterisk would then need to take into 
account the licenses of all the included components.

> But there are other issues as well for example, section um 1? of the gpl
> requires that when a copyright is displayed (like when you do 'asterisk
> -r') you state that its GPL licensed (although not all of asterisk is so
> licensed, some is lgpl like some cdr stuff, some like ilbc doesnt state
> what license is valid only copyright notices) and that there is no
> warantee unless one is provided.

I'm not sure what your question was there... but I believe you are 
correct that we need to update that copyright/license statement when the 
CLI is started.

> I just wanted to know what I had to do to legally distribute asterisk to
> my customers.

Well, you need to consult an attorney... but you are one, if I'm not 
mistaken :-) This area is so fraught with complications that I've been 
trying to work on a comprehensive review of these issues as they relate 
to Asterisk, but all my other work has gotten in the way.