Is anyone aware of Apple going after somebody that distibutes the source code of their iPhone app? My interpretation (IANAL) of sectoin 7.2 of the Apple Developer License is that you are not allowed to distribute your apps anyway other than through the App store. But if you are distibuting the source code, as required by GPL v2, that doesn't seem to be infringing to me. Of course, maybe someone can point to an example of Apple harassing someone that was doing this.
Of course, maybe the FSF is getting all upset about the fact that not just anyone can download code onto an iPhone., only those in the Apple Developer Program? Except I personally find that situation as similar to needing to have a piece of hardware to use software designed for that hardware. If I use GPL code that I have modified such that it will only run on a PS3, I'm not obliged to furnish users with a PS3...
Although I think the FSF would love to see all of those things, the actual legal technicality that they have in mind is the requirement that whoever distributes the software (i.e. the App Store) is responsible for making the source code available also - which they just don't do.
I wonder if Apple actually counts as distributing the software in that case though. I mean, it wasn't Apple that used the GPLed software after all. I remember seeing Redhat on sale in a box in an electronics store in Australia 10 years ago, and I don't think anyone would hold that store responsible for the distribution of the source code - it was obviously Redhat that was responsible...
Not only do they distribute it, they profit from that distribution^. If they were just a "dumb pipe", like an ISP, then no, but they have an active hand in it.
(^ Not that profiting from it is a conflict with the GPL, it just reinforces their status as a distributor.)
I don't know that the retailer of a product containing GPL software can really be said to be distributing programs as defined in the GPL. If I buy a Panasonic TV with linux inside it from my local Fry's, does Fry's have to take on the task of furnishing me with the source code of the program in question? It doesn't feel right.
Oh, and just a note - if the application in question is free, then Apple doesn't profit from it at all.
Of course, maybe the FSF is getting all upset about the fact that not just anyone can download code onto an iPhone., only those in the Apple Developer Program? Except I personally find that situation as similar to needing to have a piece of hardware to use software designed for that hardware. If I use GPL code that I have modified such that it will only run on a PS3, I'm not obliged to furnish users with a PS3...