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by Tuna-Fish 348 days ago
The GPL in no way forbids that. However, if they are obeying GPL you can ask them for the source code and then remove that limit yourself. If you ask for the source and they don't give it to you, then alert GNU.
2 comments
lmz 348 days ago
Of course that depends if the optimization was compiled into the version they have. One can imagine two binaries with the optimizations just missing from the free one.
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rkangel 348 days ago
If they distribute the one with optimisations, then they need to make the source available.
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Tuna-Fish 348 days ago
... but only to the ones they distribute it to. They can then choose to redistribute it if they want to.
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lmz 348 days ago
... a.k.a. the RHEL model (with contract termination on sharing source).
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immibis 348 days ago
In some jurisdictions you may even be able to sue them for the source code without bothering GNU.
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