NYCPHP Meetup

[Brian Dailey]

Excellent responses from all of you. Thanks for clearing it up.

Micheal -  your response is exactly what I *thought* might be the case.

Michael Sims wrote:
> On Friday 10 November 2006 3:45 pm, Brian Dailey wrote:
>> "If you build an intranet application and deploy it inside your
>> organisation, your users can request the source code and legally you
>> have to give it to them. It’s not likely that they will know that you’re
>> running the GPL version of MySQL so that they have the right to request
>> it but legally you have to provide the source code upon request."
>>
>>  From http://www.lamp2lapo.com/
>>
>> Does this apply to ALL web-based applications (e.g., ones written in
>> PHP)? If I write a website in PHP that uses MySQL without a commercial
>> license, do I have to share the code?
>>
>> Help me out here. Am I understanding this correctly?
> 
> No, the claim on lamp2lapo.com is false.
> 
> GPL licensing requires that if you MODIFY THE SOURCE CODE OF THE
> APPLICATION and then REDISTRIBUTE IT, you must provide the source of the
> modified application on request.
> 
> Thus if you modify how MySQL functions (maybe you've got a better way to
> index tables, or something), and then redistribute your improved database
> application (you call it "MyBetterSQL"), you must provide the source code
> of that application on request.
> 
> If you modify how MySQL functions (maybe you've got a better way to index
> tables, or something), but DON'T redistribute your improved database
> application (you just use it yourself), you need not provide the source
> code of that application.
> 
> If you merely use MySQL "as is", as 99.9999% of everyone does, you need
>  not provide the source code.
> 
> You never need to provide the source code of something, such as a PHP
> application, that is merely built adjacent to MySQL rather than being
> intricately linked with it.
> 
> Paying for MySQL's commercial license allows one to modify MySQL and
> distribute applications that are intricately bound together with it, and
> not distribute the altered source code.
> 
> Lamp2lapo.com is lying (and I do say lying, rather than mistaken, because
> anyone speaking "authoritatively" about GPL licensing certainly knows the
> rules by 2006).
> 
> 
> Michael Sims
> _______________________________________________
> New York PHP Community Talk Mailing List
> http://lists.nyphp.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
> 
> NYPHPCon 2006 Presentations Online
> http://www.nyphpcon.com
> 
> Show Your Participation in New York PHP
> http://www.nyphp.org/show_participation.php