04-20-2007, 10:15 AM
Quote:The GNU General Public License (GPL) is one of the most widely used software licenses -- and, undoubtedly, the most misunderstood. Some of this misunderstanding comes from hostile propaganda, but some also comes from a lack of experience in licensing issues on the part of both lawyers and lay users, and the use of standard language in conventional end-user license agreements that are unthinkingly coupled with the GPL. In all cases, the confusion is frequently based on misreadings, rumors, secondhand accounts, and what is convenient to believe...
a summary of the most common misunderstandings about the GPL, from comic exaggerations to potentially legitimate differences of opinion...
3. You can't charge for GPL software
Some of the first words in the GPL are, "When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price." Yet despite repeated reminders from the Free Software Foundation, including one on its home page, even some members of the free software communities believe that charging money for GPL software is illegal. Dozens of companies, including Red Hat and Novell, who continue to charge for free software, daily prove otherwise...
full article: http://www.itmanagersjournal.com/feature/12878