"Selling a machine with proprietary software that links against an LGPLv3 library..." - post discussion (lemmy.kde.social)

submitted 2 months ago by ulterno@lemmy.kde.social to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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I came across a stackexchange thread asking if system root access will be required to be given to the user.

And the answer explaining the license and saying they needed to let the user be able to swap the libs on the system somehow.

And because I just joined the community and can't comment there, here I am.

I feel like, the seller doesn't really need to give root access to the user as long as they allow the user to copy said proprietary software on another system (and this act not be restricted by the license) and then do whatever they feel like, as long as the original system is immutated.

Thoughts?

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[-] cbarrick@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You don't need to provide root access just because you used GPL code, you just have to follow the GPL.

Well, to follow version 3 of the GPL, you do actually need to provide effective root access.

Specifically, version 3 of the GPL adds language to prevent Tivoization.

It's not enough to just provide the user with the code. The user is entitled to the freedom to modify that code and to use their modifications.

In other words, in addition to providing access to the source code, you must actually provide a mechanism to allow the user to change the code on the device.

The name "Tivoization" comes from the practice of the company TiVo, which sold set-top boxes based on GPL code, but employed DRM to prevent the user from applying custom patches. V3 of the GPL remedies this bug.