It’s free software. You can charge money for distribution of free software but if the user does then he has the right to have acces to the source code forever no restrictions. And that user is free to distribute copies of the software as he wishes.
You can charge money for distribution of free software
That copy is Paidware.
but if the user does then he has the right to have acces to the source code forever no restrictions
No. FOSS licenses provide protections/rights over the source code to the user regardless if that user paid for it/a pre-compiled binary or not.
Even in a scenario where the source is restricted-access FOSS the license still grants those protections without exception. Moreover a restricted-access FOSS model goes against the very nature of FOSS, even if it’s not explicitly forbidden by the license. This kind of model is typically referred to as commercial open-source software (COSS).
This approach is essentially commercial proprietary software but they messed up by picking the wrong license.
You can change for software distribution (binaries).Directly from gpl site…:
Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money? (#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney)
Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)
Does the GPL allow me to charge a fee for downloading the program from my distribution site? (#DoesTheGPLAllowDownloadFee)
Yes. You can charge any fee you wish for distributing a copy of the program. Under GPLv2, if you distribute binaries by download, you must provide “equivalent access” to download the source—therefore, the fee to download source may not be greater than the fee to download the binary. If the binaries being distributed are licensed under the GPLv3, then you must offer equivalent access to the source code in the same way through the same place at no further charge.
Parted Magic
Maybe it’s regional, but the webpage doesn’t say anything about a donation. It uses language like “store,” “purchase” and “subscription.”
It’s free software. You can charge money for distribution of free software but if the user does then he has the right to have acces to the source code forever no restrictions. And that user is free to distribute copies of the software as he wishes.
That copy is Paidware.
No. FOSS licenses provide protections/rights over the source code to the user regardless if that user paid for it/a pre-compiled binary or not.
Even in a scenario where the source is
restricted-access FOSSthe license still grants those protections without exception. Moreover a restricted-access FOSS model goes against the very nature of FOSS, even if it’s not explicitly forbidden by the license. This kind of model is typically referred to as commercial open-source software (COSS).This approach is essentially commercial proprietary software but they messed up by picking the wrong license.
You can change for software distribution (binaries).Directly from gpl site…:
Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money? (#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney)
Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)
Does the GPL allow me to charge a fee for downloading the program from my distribution site? (#DoesTheGPLAllowDownloadFee)
Yes. You can charge any fee you wish for distributing a copy of the program. Under GPLv2, if you distribute binaries by download, you must provide “equivalent access” to download the source—therefore, the fee to download source may not be greater than the fee to download the binary. If the binaries being distributed are licensed under the GPLv3, then you must offer equivalent access to the source code in the same way through the same place at no further charge.
So would that mean that torrenting parted magic is legal?
Yes? You can also torrent your favourite Linux distros. Torrenting is not illegal; distributing pirated content is
My bad, got it mixed up with gPartEd
If the source code is free software you are free to share it if you have a copy of it.