Re: LYNX-DEV OS/2 blowoff

[Foteos Macrides]

Jonathan Sergent <address@hidden> wrote:
>Fote writes:
> ]     It most certainly is violating one of the key objectives of
> ] the GNU GPL and FSF's founding principles.  The intent is not to
> ] to prevent anyone from making money indirectly through use of freeware
> ] (as many ISPs, and commercial organizations which distribute freeware
> ] on CDROMs are doing, for example), but to keep the sources open, and
> ] to ensure that any enhancments will remain available in source from to
> ] the overall user community.   Distributing binaries -- but not making
> ] the sources available on one's own initiative or on request, and for
> ] no more than a *modest* cost of media and distribution -- is a flagrant
> ] violation of what the GNU GPL and FSF are all about!
>
>But did he base it off of a GPLed version, or of one of the versions 
>before Lynx was GPLed?
>
>I can't run OS/2, but I was able to glean this from the Lynx/2 binary
>with 'strings':
>
>-version
>OS/2_Beta_0.7
>Lynx2
>%s Version %s
>(c)1995 University of Kansas
><address@hidden>
>Portions (c) 1995, 1996 Decker Automation
><address@hidden>
>
>No reference to the GPL, but when was that license added, and when was
>the notice added to -version?
>
>Based on the date, the code could be based on anything from 2.3FM through
>2.4FM, right?

        The last time any Lynx code development actually was done at
UKans was in the summer of 1993 (that's *three*), at which point both
Lou Montulli and Garrett Blythe left for positions at Netscape.  Lynx2-4
is a rename and formal release of my 2.3FM.   The -1 and -2 patch levels
of Lynx2-4 are contributed patches for the base release.  It is v2.4
which was placed under the GNU GPL, when it became apparent that UKans
wouldn't, in fact, be resume Lynx development itself, despite the
assurances that it would in conjunction with the 2.3FM -> 2.4 rename
and formal release.  Stop kidding yourself that he might not be
violating the copyright/licensing requirements.

        Lynx v2.4 did not have any of the alignment (left, center, right)
and advanced HTML 3.0 handling.  I added all that in the v2.4FM field
test code, which I released as v2.5.  I also change the -version string
output at that time, but the GNU GPL still applies to v2.4, because it
is a rider on the UKans copyright.  You can assess whether he's using a
v2.4 as claimed in his readme, or a v2.5 or later, by trying it with
markup that has centering.  But that has no bearing on whether he is
violation the copyright/licensing provisions by ignoring requests for
his sources.  He is!

                                Fote

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 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
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