[sword-devel] BREW Development?

[Nic Carter]

Curious.

A brief reading of the GPL licence that we use shows that it says nothing about the source being able to be compiled to work on a platform.  The fact that the src is available freely seems to satisfy it, so the fact that you then need to pay apple for the privilege to run it on your (unjailbroken) iPhone isn't an issue.  Altho, reading the licence again (it's been years!) reveals to me that I should more explicitly state in the app where you can grab the src from & that it's GPL'd...  I may be a little slack in not stating that clearly enough in the About section of the app.  Will fix that for the next release.  :)


Thanks, ybic
	nic...  :)

On 17/06/2011, at 1:00 PM, Greg Hellings wrote:

> As I understood it the FSF had (at least in the past) declared that
> there was an incompatibility.  But IIRC, the incompatibility was
> actually that Apple is always violating the GPL with its distribution.
> Since the GPL states that the person doing the distribution is
> required to make the code and any modifications to the program
> publicly available to the people to whom they distribute the app.
> Thus, to be in compliance Apple would need to have a place where
> people could download the source code plus their technology for
> digitally signing the compiled apps, etc, in order to be in touch with
> the GPL.  (That's how I understood it. That could be totally bogus.)
> 
> So long as you aren't about to chase down Apple and yell at them for
> not giving away your source, but state in the program where the source
> is available and that it's under the GPL, etc, then you're probably
> good to go from a practical standpoint even if Apple is technically
> dropping the ball on the GPL.
> 
> --Greg
> 
> On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 9:49 PM, Nic Carter <niccarter at mac.com> wrote:
>> 
>> My understanding of GPL (other than my general dislike for it) is that it is fine with iOS development as it stands.  Originally you weren't allowed to share ANY code you had written for iOS, as part of the insane NDA that you needed to agree with in order to get the iOS APIs, but that has all passed, and Apple encourages sharing of code so they get more developers and more apps and more ppl buying their devices (they _do_ like making money, it appears!)...  ;)
>> 
>> So, PocketSword is GPL'd, the source is available for download, and the GPL licence is installed on each user's device when they install PS from the app store.  True, if they want to compile it themselves and install it on their own device, that's a little bit of a hassle, but they _can_.  :)
>> 
>> If anyone can see any issues or flaws in the above, please let me know, cause I'd rather PS was doing the right thing.  I believe the FSF has said iOS development and OSS can mix, so that's all good AFAIK...  In fact, I know of an app (Colloquy) which is OSS on both the Mac & iOS, but if you get it from the iOS App Store, they charge 99c or something.  I chose to download the src and compile and install myself, which meant it was "free"...  It may be their way of trying to recover some of the fees that Apple charge to be able to be a developer on the App Store ($99 per year, which is actually why PocketSword is available on the App Store under my name, rather than CrossWire Bible Society, cause I just used my account, rather than pay an additional $99 per year for a CrossWire account!)...
>> 
>> 
>> Ummm, so, yes, if you can point out how the distribution model of an app affects how it is GPL compatible, I'd be very interested in hearing it.  :)
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks, ybic
>>        nic...  :)
>> 
>> ----
>> Nic Carter
>> PocketSword Developer - an iPhone Bible Study app
>> www: http://crosswire.org/pocketsword
>> iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/Pocketsword/id341046078
>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/pocketsword
>> 
>> On 17/06/2011, at 10:01 AM, David (Mailing List Addy) wrote:
>> 
>>> On Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:18:57 PM Mike Hart wrote:
>>>> ottom line, BREW is not an open system, and is not compatible with the
>>>> business model Sword and GoBible operate under (free, Free, FREE.)
>>> 
>>> From what I understand App Repos like the Apple App Store and the Android
>>> Market are also not "open systems" and are technically not GPL compatible,
>>> though I have been assuming we've been giving an understood license exception
>>> to And Bible, Pocket Sword and probably now whatever Mac Sword's new name is
>>> (escapes me off hand) so they can be distributed under their respective repos.
>>> But I could be mistaken on that.
>>> 
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>> 
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