What's the Worst That the FSF Could Have Done to Apple? Nothing.
In discussions on the implications of the recent FSF enforcement action against Apple's iTunes App Store, there's been a sort of recurring theme that's come up: what the GPL "requires" or "obligates" anyone to do. There's a strong strain of fantasy in these comments, and it's important to make clear what's actually the case here.
Regardless of what the GPL "requires" or "obligates" a "distributor" to do, Apple never signed a contract agreeing to abide by the GPL, not with the FSF, and not with anyone else. No matter what they'd like, the FSF has absolutely no power whatsoever to force Apple to comply with the GPL in even the slightest way.
Nor would any judge hold Apple to observing the GPL. As I've noted, Apple never agreed, much less contracted to observe it, and you can't force them to without their informed consent. There was no "meeting of minds", no "exchange of considerations", in fact, none of the elements needed to hold a party to the observance of that document.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 1159 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
Recent comments
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago