Take the Free Software licensing quiz and test your knowledge of the
GPL and LGPL.
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Joan writes a web browser and releases the source code under the GPL
on her web site. Fred gives a CD with binaries of Joan's browser to
his friend for her birthday. Which of the following does not
satisfy Fred's obligation to make source code available:
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He can put the source code on his web site, and put the URL on the CD.
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He can give out source on the same CD as the binaries.
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He can make a written offer to give out the source code on CD for
a fee that covers his distribution costs.
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Now Fred makes modifications to Joan's web browser, and
distributes binaries on his web site. Which of the following fulfill
Fred's obligation to distribute the source code of the modified
browser?
- I.
He can distribute Joan's original source code verbatim, retaining
all copyright notices.
- II.
He can distribute the modified source code alongside the binaries.
- III.
He can distribute only trivially-applied patches against the
original source.
- IV.
He can distribute trivially-applied patches against Joan's
original source, along with the original source code.
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I or II, and nothing else.
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II, and nothing else.
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II or IV, but nothing else
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Any or all of I, II, III, or IV
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Fred wishes to distribute Joan's browser linked to a
third-party module. The third party module has the following license:
This code may be freely modified, copied and distributed, so long as
no fee is charged for it.
Would this violate the GPL?
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Yes, because the GPL requires that code linked against
GPL-licensed code be licensed under the GPL.
-
Yes, because the GPL does not allow additional restrictions to be
applied to any part of the code.
-
No, because the new code is linked to Joan's code,
rather than copied into Joan's code.
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No, because the resulting work can still be distributed for free.
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No, because the GPL already prohibits charging a fee for distribution.
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Peter creates a library called LibIdo licensed under the Lesser General Public License. FooCorp distributes a modified version of the LibIdo library linked to their proprietary program Frobber. Which of the following is not an obligation of FooCorp?
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FooCorp must provide a mechanism for Frobber to be linked against
new versions of LibIdo.
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FooCorp must make available the complete source code to their
modified version of LibIdo.
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FooCorp must note all their modifications to LibIdo.
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FooCorp must make available the complete source code to Frobber.
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Joan wants to distribute copies of her browser statically linked
to Postfix (a mail server), which is released under the
IBM Public License, a GPL-incompatible Free Software license.
Other than Postfix, the browser includes only code on which Joan holds the
copyright. Should she grant an exception to the GPL for this?
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No, because static linking does not create a derivative work
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No, because the GPL already allows linking to other software, so
long as that software is Free Software.
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Yes -- the following exception is OK:
In addition, as a special exception, Joan Smith gives permission
to link the code of this program with Postfix (or with modified
versions of Postfix that use the same license as Postfix), and
distribute linked combinations including the two. You must obey
the GNU General Public License in all respects for all of the code
used other than Postfix. If you modify this file, you may extend
this exception to your version of the file, but you are not
obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this
exception statement from your version.
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Yes -- the following exception is OK:
In addition, as a special exception, Joan Smith gives permission
to link the code of this program with any proprietary library and
distribute linked combinations including these libraries. You
must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all
of the code used other than these libraries. If you modify this
file, you may extend this exception to your version of the file,
but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so,
delete this exception statement from your version.
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FooCorp sells binaries of Joan's GPL'd web browser on CD
without source code. They include an offer to provide source code.
Which of the following offers fulfills their obligations under the GPL?
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I.
"You can download the source code from our web site at
http://foocorp.example.com/download.html"
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II.
"Everyone who buys a binary CD may order up to one source CD
per binary CD for $5000."
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III.
"Everyone may order a source CD for $5000."
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IV.
"Everyone who buys a binary CD may order up to one source CD
per binary CD for the cost of distribution."
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V.
"Everyone may order a source CD for the cost of distribution."
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VI.
"Everyone who buys a binary CD may order up to one source CD
for free."
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VII.
"Everyone may order a source CD for free."
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Any of I-VII are OK.
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Any of II-VII are OK, but I is not OK.
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Any of IV-VII are OK, but I-III are not OK.
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Any of III, V, and VII are OK, but I, II, IV, VI are not OK.
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V and VII are OK, none of the others are.
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None of I-VII are OK.
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Patty creates a library, and releases it under the GPL. Many people make
improvements to this library, and submit them back to Patty, who
incorporates them into newer versions of the library. Now Patty wants to
make a proprietary version of this library. She makes two claims:
- I.
Because the original version was under the GPL, everyone who made
improvements automatically assigned copyright on those
improvements to Patty, so she doesn't need to ask permission before
relicensing.
- II.
Because she is the copyright holder, she can relicense the code
retroactively, so nobody can distribute old versions under the GPL
anymore.
Are these claims true?
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Both claims are true.
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I is true but II is false
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II is true but I is false
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Both claims are false.
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FooCorp distributes Frobber linked against an unmodified version
of LibIdo. Does the LGPL require FooCorp to allow users to reverse engineer
Frobber for their own use?
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Yes.
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No.
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Now FooCorp modifies Joan's browser to include a technology they
have patented. They distribute this modified browser on CD. Are
there any requirements in the GPL on how they may license their
applicable patent?
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No.
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Yes, they must allow everyone to practice the patented technology
for any purpose.
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Yes, they must allow everyone who uses any code from the browser
to practice their patented technology.