ITPEC FE Subject A April 2024 Question 60
When OSS that is released under GPL is modified and distributed, which of the following is an appropriate action to comply with the GPL?
Explanation
Make the source code of the distributed copies available to the recipients — the GPL's copyleft obliges anyone who distributes a modified version to provide its source.
The GPL lets anyone use, study, modify and redistribute the software, and it keeps those freedoms for every later recipient: a derivative work must be distributed under the GPL with its source code available.
Answer (c)
Why not others:
- •(a) — the GPL forbids imposing further restrictions; recipients keep the right to redistribute copies
- •(b) — an application statically linked to GPL code forms one combined work with it, so its source must also be disclosed under the GPL
- •(d) — the GPL allows charging for distribution, including a fee that covers the cost of providing the source; what it forbids is withholding the source or the freedoms
Key rule: Copyleft means whoever distributes GPL software, modified or not, must pass on the source and the same freedoms; the licence is about freedom, not zero price.
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