From: Tom Pollard <tomp@...>
Date: 2006-09-28T07:32:18+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby with Qt or GTK ?


On Sep 27, 2006, at 4:00 PM, John Gabriele wrote:

> On 9/27/06, Tom Pollard <tomp@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> Someone using your software under the GPL does not have the right to
>> use it for any purpose.
>
> then:
>> [snip]  The GPL just restricts what someone using your software can
>> legally do with it.  It's still your software.
>
> That sounds incorrect. You, the user, can use GPL'd software for
> whatever you like. For example, you may build proprietary software
> with gcc if you like.
>
> The GPL has to do with distribution -- it talks about the rules you
> need to follow if you want to *distribute* GPL'd software. It has
> nothing to do with what you *use* it for.

Well, distributing it or selling products derived from the code *is*  
a 'use' of the software.  My point was that releasing your code under  
the GPL imposes legal restrictions on the user of your code, but not  
on you.  You can choose to release new versions under a different  
license (or not all) if you want to, but someone using your code has  
no such rights.  If they incorporate your code into their own apps,  
they must release their apps under the GPL (assuming they release  
their apps publicly at all.)  The original poster seemed (to me) to  
be suggesting that releasing your software under the GPL was  
tantamount to putting it irreversibly in the public domain.

Anyway, this is all probably off-topic for ruby-talk, so I'll leave  
it at that.

Tom