this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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Technology
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Contributing back is besides the point. GPL is infectious, so all of their code which they aren’t releasing the source of is also considered GPL. So unless they release all of the source code they are still non compliant and I have to imagine they’re wel aware of this.
I think they'll still be compliant as long as they offer their source to customers. The GPL doesn't require that you make source available to anyone, but to anyone that you distribute binaries to. From the GNU website:
Source: Quick GPLv3 Guide under the More Ways for Developers to Provide Source section.
Of course the GPL also allows redistribution of source code, and Red Hat seems to want to threaten customers who do so.
They're still sharing the source code.
What they're doing is requiring companies to sign supplementary contracts that say "we're not restricting your rights granted by the GPL but we will punish you if you exercise them", which is pretty clearly not what open source is about.