[vlc-devel] FSF position on GPLv2 & current App Store terms

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

On Wed, Nov 03, 2010 at 05:59:06AM +0100, Pierre Ynard wrote :
> Sections (ii) and (v) address "syncing". Sections (iii) and (iv) address
> storing, which implicitely affects syncing, copying and/or distribution.
> Now, I've never owned an iTunes-authorized device. But it seems to me
> that "syncing" *is* copying, and even distributing when syncing to
> another person's device, although I don't know the modalities of that.
No. Syncing cannot be done to another's person device.
Syncing is limited per account, but anyone can have many accounts.

I don't think this is distribution, but it might be copying, indeed. I
need 5 iDevice to check.

> Does the word "herein" cover all the license, including section 0, or
> does it only cover section 6? If section 0 is covered, does the saying
> "The act of running the Program is not restricted" counts as granting
> unrestricted rights, even after "Activities other than copying,
> distribution and modification are not covered by this License" ? People
> have argued that both questions could be answered as "no".
People have argued yes and no to this part, and it is indeed very
confusing. I still don't understand, nor have an opinion.

> On a personal note, I believe that the AppStore terms and conditions
> are clearly against the spirit of the GPL. There should be no questions
> about whether the GPL is a valid EULA, no references to never-ending
> additional rules and licenses, no limitations on the number of
> copies which may be moot or not...
So you are saying 'lawyers are boring"? Welcome to the real world.
I feel sorry for you.

> Apple is simply not trying hard
> enough to comply with free software licenses, and yet has no concern
> with accepting them in the AppStore, despite their tight control on
> acceptance over other issues. So I totally condone one's action against
> that, and I wonder why this mailing list sounds like "how can we
> interpret the GPL so that we can have VLC on iPhone?" so more often than
You have to understand something clearly if you want to discuss/defend it.
You seem to already understand all of the GPL, I am glad for you.

> like "what should we do to get Apple to respect our free software?"
Good luck with that.

Best Regards,

-- 
Jean-Baptiste Kempf
http://www.jbkempf.com/
+33 672 704 734