Kenguin wrote:
I'm having trouble understanding why the GPL made it difficult for people to create and share their own versions of the code. The whole purpose of the GPL is to ensure that this is possible.
According to the cited source ( http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/01/kirste ... iewer.html ) there was one author in particular who was not complying with the requirement to supply the source behind any changes made. She claims to have deleted the source and was therefore unable to comply with the license. She complains about the requirement to keep an archive of the source for three years.
Personally, it sounds pretty whiny to me. The GPL is a harsh license, but those particular terms are both essential and simple. I'm not sure why she wasn't just using a public repository (such as Sourceforge or one of many others) which would have negated her personal storage issues.
Reading that article and her quotes, it comes across like she just wasn't interested in keeping and/or releasing her source, and then became (understandably) irate when GPL supporters began nagging her about her non-compliance.
Hard to say what really happened for sure just from that article though. Anyway, what it comes down to was not an issue with Linden Labs, or even the GPL specifically, but a solo independent developer. It doesn't sound like this was a widespread issue.
Update: Looking into it further, it appears she is still working on the viewer and does have a Sourceforge project set up as well. ( http://kirstenleecinquetti.blogspot.com/ ) So I guess everything's been straightened out...