[I have changed the subject of this part of my reply to a different thread most relevant to the issue raised.] Reply inline: Original Subject: Re: [Koha] AGPL 3 objections and replies On Wed, July 14, 2010 01:01, david@lang.hm wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010, Thomas Dukleth wrote:
On Tue, July 13, 2010 20:26, david@lang.hm wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010, Thomas Dukleth wrote:
>> 3.4. DATA.
[...]
The software license is part of the solution by making the version which any particular library is using portable. The library could install that version elsewhere under their own control with any effective access to the source code. If the library is using AGPL 3 software, lock-in would not be based on software code.
I disagree with this assertion. It's very easy to have AGPL3 software which talks to some other service that is not open. This would prevent people from setting up their own instance.
This could be something as simple as tieing in to some proprietary authentication server. you would be abel to get all the interface code, but unless you have the server to talk to you are out of luck. Yes, this simple example could be hacked around, but my point is that getting the source does not equate to being able to run your own instance of the service.
Corresponding Source for the object code form does "equate to being able to run your own instance of the service." The object code form is the form applicable to AGPL 3 specific obligations to remote network users. Section 1 of the license clarifies. "The "Corresponding Source" for a work in object code form means all the source code needed to generate, install, and (for an executable work) run the object code and to modify the work, including scripts to control those activities." See the full explanation given at http://tinyurl.com/24nwjdv . [The link is to the message in Nable. Apparently, a bug in the Mailman archive copy at Katipo truncated the message just before a line ending with a colon in the body of the message.] I changed the subject to "Corresponding Source under AGPL 3" in my subsequent replies to accommodate requests for easier to follow branches of the origin al thread.
If you try to say that the AGPL3 means that every service needed to run the code must be available, that would prohibit using Oracle as a database, or Active Directory as an authentication service (things that I am sure someone is doing somewhere that I'm sure we would all agree are perfectly legitimate)
If Oracle would be used as an unmodified separate work with standard communication protocols and the SQL standard database language especially with DBI as a database independent abstraction, then Oracle would not be part of the Corresponding Source. Use of Active Directory as an unmodified separate work would be a sufficiently similar case with standard communication protocols, the LDAP standard, and the Kerberos authentication standard, then Active Directory would not be part of the Corresponding Source. Under most circumstances, free software could be substituted to provide identical functionality to use of Oracle or Active Directory. [...]
AGPL 3 is not the whole solution, but it is part of a solution to the general problem of user freedom in the context of remote network use of software. Other remedies are needed to address other parts of the problem.
I don't see AGPL3 being effective in blocking a bad actor. It's just too easy to setup whatever you don't want to share as a separate application and then modify Koha to access it via a web services call (or other RPC-like API)
Attempting to disguise one work as multiple works would fail on legal grounds because a clear case of bad faith would be evident as failure to comply with the license. Most likely the bad actor would also be careless enough to have otherwise failed in some details to create separate works under copyright law. In the history of GPL enforcement, the worst bad actors have been the most careless and given up once properly exposed. Our goal should not be to worry excessively about how some people might try to evade the license. Our goal should be to build tools to make co-operation the easiest and most profitable route with the license encouraging that co-operation. [...] Thomas Dukleth Agogme 109 E 9th Street, 3D New York, NY 10003 USA http://www.agogme.com +1 212-674-3783