In reply to:

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Can I just post this file as-is, or are there legality issues? How does the GNU license work?

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Shouldn't be a problem as long as you provide source too (not necessarily in the same package).
AFAI understand the GPL it says that you can do whatever
you want with the code, as long as you do not distribute
your changed code under a less free license. Ie you need to
distribute your changed stuff under GPL too...

/Michael

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...Can I just have pointers to the original debian root?

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I'm not 100% certain, but I would guess that isn't good enough. There was a thread earlier this year about empeg and the GPL which Bruce Perens appeared in to discuss the GPL and empeg's responsibilities under it. If I remember correctly (I should really go and find the thread, but I think I'm right in saying this) the empeg guys thought they would be covered by pointing to the original root, but since the debian distribution had moved on, the actual source for the code used on the empeg was no longer available there, so they had to put it all up on the empeg site.

(I found the thread in question, and it got quite heated - by the standards of the time)

Geoff
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Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...

In reply to:

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It just means that you must offer the full sources
from the same location from which you offer your modified
(cut-down) version. In a different tarball. So although
it'll still take up space on your server, you at least
wouldn't be forcing anyone to do a huge download.

At least this is how I understand it. I'm not a GPL expert by any stretch of the imagination.

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Right on. Take the binaries, libraries etc. that is needed
to use the package and pack that into the binary
tar-ball. This is what most users will want, unless they
don't trust you and want to inspect/compile it themselves,
or if they want to modify it further.

To comply with the GPL you also need to make the source code
available - including your changes. Pointing to the original
.deb package isn't enough as your changes aren't included
there. So essentially, tar up an archive of your project
directory and stick that on the server along with the binary
tar-ball. Stuff from the original .deb that you don't use does not need to be included.

You can not distribute it under any lesser free license than
the GPL. Not even the BSD (essentially: do what ever you
want as long as you credit the earlier developers) license,
as it (BSD license) allows the next developer to distribute without source.

The point of the GPL is to make sure the source stays available - always.

Chicken clause: At least that's the way I understand it...

/Michael

In reply to:

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I'm not a GPL expert by any stretch of the imagination.

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Neither am I, but that thread I mentioned taught a lot of us here a thing or two

What I meant was that, as I understand it, if you are providing any pre-compiled binaries from the debian root, you are obliged to provide source code for the particular versions of the utilities you include, as there is no guarantee that the source code to match the specific versions you are using will always be available from the debian site. It seems a fairly minor point in the grand scheme of things, but.... well, better safe than sorry I guess.

Geoff
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Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...

In reply to:

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This doesn't mean your "simple" tarball/script has to contain the entire Debian archive. It just means that you must offer the full sources from the same location from which you offer your modified (cut-down) version. In a different tarball. So although it'll still take up space on your server, you at least wouldn't be forcing anyone to do a huge download.

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The problem is that I'm not sure if I have the source available or not in the first place.. Does anyone know if the debian dist. that's been recommded even comes w/ the source? If so, then I would think offering IT directly, then a slimmed down version of it (side by side, I can host both files if necessary) would cover the legalities; right?
-mark

MK2: 36gb
Tivo: 90gb
CPU: 120gb
...I think drive manufacturers love me!

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