NASLite Network Attached Storage

Hello,

what for a type of licensing is NASLite?
I ask, because you wrote

Server Elements software consists of Open Source software components and proprietary Server Elements software components. The Open Source components are freely distributed under the respective Open Source licenses, Server Elements software is distributed under Server Elements' terms.

But what does this mean exactly? Isn't there a Problem with the GPL?!
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

I found no place where i can find your Sourcecode...

There is only one thing to say: Server Elements violates the GPL by distributing products like NAS lite in binary form and with a non-GPL licensing.

Serverelements.com exposes itsself to legal action like others have done before: http://www.netfilter.org/news/2004-04-1 ... m-gpl.html

Serverelements, release your source code or prepare to die :-)

NASLite is a distribution, and as such contains parts that are not free, and not derived from GPL code.

Bundling GPL and non-GPL software to create a distribution is not a violation of the GPL. Take a look at RedHat, SuSE, Astaro and many other linux distributions. GPL components used in NASLite are freely available from the usual sources.

Aside from the fact that currently available NASLite version are freely distributable and available for download, it's important to understand that Server Elements does not sell GPL software, but develops distributions that bundle GPL and non-GPL software, creating task-speciffic distributions with added value.

That is not enough. Have a look at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.htm ... erentSites


Apart from that you can not only download binary code from SuSE but source code as well.



Obviously you did not really understand the concepts of the GPL. "Free" in Free Software is *not* related to the price but to the freedom to modify the source. Therefore the source code has to be redistributed regardelss of the product's price.

"Free" as in free speech, not as in beer for free. That's what Free Software is about.


Okay. So If I wanted to use NAS lite without non-GPL code. Where can I get it?


worst-case

http://www.samba.org

It seems that some of the posters do have a point. If you distribute binaries of GPL software, you must also make availible the source. If you modify the source and distribute the binaries, you must post the modified source.

All this is explained in the GPL faqs.

It would be a simple matter to post the sources of the GPLed software you use in NASLite.

To adhere strictly to the GPL, be sure that any mods in your distro are NOT mods of GPLed code.

Since I never looked for the source, I never noticed that it wasn't posted.

Tim

Worst-case,

While I share your opinion that SE needs to make available the
source of the GPL components they use you are not helping the
open source community any with your childish attitude and threats.

In starting this thread wonderer politely inquired about SE's
adherence to the GPL. SE explicitly lists the open source
components used and where to get them:
http://www.serverelements.com/resources.php
Server Elements appears to have made a good faith effort to
adhere to the GPL, which can be confusing and unclear.

Your second post demonstrates you are capable of rational
discussion should you so choose. Hopefully everybody here wants
open source to prosper, in the future please choose to post
politely.

BitTwiddler

So my compiler gets a different binary than that provided by ServerElements. I am sure you will be able to tell me what I am doing wrong.

In addition if the source code is availiable at http://www.samba.org/ ServerElements changed the License Terms. This already is a violation of the GPL.


worst-case

This is certainly not enough to comply with the GPL. See the GPL FAQ and the link I already posted.


They introduced some proprietary License for something I cannot seperate from tge GPL based code.

That's IMHO very different from "good faith"


That is exactly what I want. Therefore I request Server Elements should comply to the GPL and publish source code as demanded by the GPL.


worst-case

My response was somewhat tounge-in-cheek

You really are the worst-case.

worst-case,

Your aggressive approach is more damaging then you think. I wasn't aware of this site. Thanks to your groklaw post, now i am. Frankly, I think nas-lite is a pretty cool idea and I can benefit from using it. That can't be bad for open source since it now fills yet another gap.

The GPL is indeed clear about the fact that Server Elements needs to do more in order to satisfy its requirements. Perhaps a bit of diplomacy on your part could have made a better-case.

My advice to you - Try to promote initiative and not hinder it!

There has never been any attempt to hide or disguise the fact that NASLite
employs GPL'd software. In fact there are two links, entitled "Resources"
and "Licensing", explicitly stating this and pointing users to GPL
information. After reviewing the GPL license itself, discussing the matter
with peers, compliance and the software components we've used, we have
discovered the following:

Full credit has always been given to all of the GPL'd projects we've used.
What we did find is that we had a distinct interpretation of the GPL in
regards to unmodified GPL'd source code. As there were no changes to most
projects utilized and no code centric changes on others (text changes) , we
believed that a link to the usual sources would suffice. While doing further
research on this issue, we've discovered numerous instances of similar
interpretations by others due in large part to the GPL being rather vague.
However we have since found that the GPL is quite specific in requiring the
source and binaries to be made available, whether modified or not.
We are currently creating a tar ball of all GPL'd software we've utilized
and will have available in the near future.

-Ralph

Hello @all,

sorry, for the mess i made to all and the extra work
This point wasn't realy clear to me and i wanted to use this realy nice Sotware without any risk.
So thanks @ all.

Well, thank you very much. I really appreciate you guys developing such nice stuff based on Free Software, but adhering strictly to the GPL is IMHO essential for the future of Open Source Software.

Thank you for contributing your code to the community!


worst-case

In compliance with the GPL, we are pleased to provide the full source of all Open Source software packages as used by Server Elements. The source can be found at http://www.serverelements.com/resources.php.

Thank you for your patience.