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A comment on VLC Submits iPad App to App Store. Parent comment

Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by gte910h on Thursday September 09, 2010 @10:52AM (#1675570)
3rd Party AppStore developer here.

There isn't a ban on "media playing".

However, there is a ban on GPL licensed apps, as they GPL is incompatible with the app store terms of use.

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Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by Dylan16807 on Thursday September 09, 2010 @11:34AM (#1675702)
I suppose, but with GPLv2 there's nothing more than a technicality in the way, is there? As far as I understand it, the app store agreement prevents you from taking that particular copy of the app and doing free things with it, but nothing truly restrictive. You can still get a copy of the source from the app-maker, and exercise all your normal free software rights.

Then again, saying that makes me feel like I'm missing something. Am I?

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Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by sjs on Thursday September 09, 2010 @08:08PM (#1677417)
Apple would be in violation of the GPL for distributing the app with those restrictions tacked on. If I were them I wouldn't distribute GPL apps either.

They would basically have to special case apps licensed w/ the GPL. Sadly I doubt it's worth the legal and/or operations costs involved.

I'm not a license snob, whatever works for a project is great (GPL has been great for Linux). However this is a prime example of why MIT and BSD licenses are more free than the GPL.

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Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by cosgroveb on Thursday September 09, 2010 @01:46PM (#1676171)
Doom for the iPhone is available on the App Store and it's been GPL'ed for a long time.

http://www.idsoftware.com/doom-classic/

There are probably more examples. The GPL is not incompatible with the App Store.

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Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by jcl on Thursday September 09, 2010 @03:25PM (#1676556)
Actually, the GPL is not exercised in that example. As the author of Doom, id Software can do whatever they want with it; they are not going to sue themselves for violating the GPL.

The GPL's terms only become relevant when a third party wants to use it to distribute the work. And it seems the GPL (v3, at least) would not allow a third party to publish Doom on the App Store.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/762498/iphone-and-gpl

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Re:VLC Submits iPad App to App Store by cosgroveb on Thursday September 09, 2010 @04:07PM (#1676739)
It seems that you're right. I did some further digging, and it seems that at least in the case of GNU Go, the FSF held the following opinion:

"the particular license violation that FSF brought up with Apple was section 6 of the GPLv2, which states that a redistributor of the licensed program may not impose further restrictions on the recipients to copy, distribute, or modify the program. Apple's App Store terms of service do impose several restrictions, such as limiting usage of the program to five devices approved by Apple."

http://lwn.net/Articles/391423/

Looks like I was wrong!

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