Disclaimer: chit-chat/rumor mill
don’t take too seriously these are just some perhaps crazy (i.e. theoretical not practical) thoughts I’ve been having
Ok so basically the AGPLv3 is:
The GNU Affero General Public License is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works, specifically designed to ensure cooperation with the community in the case of network server software.
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 | Choose a License is a good summary
Let’s say I took someone’s (or someone took my) publicly released, AGPLv3 licensed robot code, modified it, and ran it at a competition.
Section 13 of the license states:
if you modify the Program, your modified version must prominently offer all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source of your version by
Now here’s the real problem. Vexnet is the computer network. The field controller software is ‘remotely interacting’ with my program (or is it vice versa?). Therefore, the operator of the field controller software (volunteer or EP) must be ‘prominently offered’ and ‘opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source’. On a website, this prominent offering is typically done by putting a link to the source code at the bottom of the page, however, (afaik) VexNet doesn’t have any ‘link to source code’ kinda option.
and that’s totally reasonable. do remember that this post is about theoreticals not practicals
Therefore, using someone else’s AGPLv3 licensed code at a competition would be a violation of the license unless a link to the source is ‘prominently offered’ some other way (anyone carrying GitHub link posters to matches?)
If the above interpretation is correct, that means the AGPLv3 serves as a learn-and-practice but don’t-take-to-competition type of license in VRC.
Of course, there are many simpler licenses that can be written to do that and it’s still impossible to enforce any of those - but theoreticals
Any thoughts?