[theme-reviewers] GPL and limiting usage

[Otto]

On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:
> There's nothing inherently wrong with subscription models. Subscription
> models are perfectly fine for support, for SaaS (like Akismet), and the
> like.
>
> But requiring a subscription to continue to use already-distributed code is
> a usage restriction, and not GPL-compatible.

You throw around the term "GPL-compatible" pretty freely, but I don't
think you really understand what it is that you're saying here.

*Code cannot be incompatible with the GPL*.
Ever.
Period.

Only other licenses can be incompatible with the GPL. Code is just
code. It cannot be "incompatible" with a legal document.

If I write a piece of code that only works on my computer (using
whatever method I like) and release that code, then I can release it
under the terms of the GPL. Those are the terms for the code. The code
itself is useless to anybody not using my computer, but that does not
matter. Those are still the terms.

If the copyright holder says that the terms are GPL, then the terms
are GPL. Period. No magic coding trickery can make it "incompatible"
with those terms.

-Otto