phpnuke and gpl question

[Francisco]

I have a question, as far as I know the GPL licence lets you modify software
and use it right?, if you want to redistribute the modified software you
should do it under the GPL.
PHP nuke is a web portal software writen in php and it comes under the GPL,
but in the install doc there is this message: (textual)

##############################################################################
# I M P O R T A N T N O T E
#
##############################################################################
# IMPORTANT: I saw many sites that removes the copyright line in the footer
#
# of each page. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE NOR CHANGE/EDIT THAT NOTE. If I
#
# still see this problem happening I'll need to take extreme measures that
#
# can include: to change the PHP-Nuke license, to encrypt some parts of the
#
# code, stop distributing it for free and in an extreme case stop developing
#
# it. The decision is in your hands.
#
# If you do not agreed with this simple rule, delete all PHP-Nuke files
#
# rigth now and move away from it. Thanks.
#
##############################################################################

So my question is, is this right under GPL?
Thank you.

Francisco

[Bijan Soleymani]

Francisco <fra...@mailandnews.com> writes:

It is not right to add additional restrictions. But this is not a
restriction but a threat. The author can at any time decide to stop
using the gpl for future versions, there is no way to stop him. He may
have practical problems if he is not the only programmer on the
project, since others may not agree.

Of course the GNU GPL requires you to put copyright notices on the
files if you distribute them. Or to indicate that you changed the
files if you made modified versions. The issue is whether these people
are distributing copies of the program or not.

Bijan

[Francisco]

>> # If you do not agreed with this simple rule, delete all PHP-Nuke files
>> #
>> # rigth now and move away from it. Thanks.

> It is not right to add additional restrictions. But this is not a
> restriction but a threat. The author can at any time decide to stop

Well, but I think is more than a threat, since he says "If you do not agreed
with this simple rule, delete all PHP-Nuke files rigth now and move away
from it."
I think thats a restriction.

Francisco

[Barry Margolin]

In article <aug84f$75h03$1...@ID-99245.news.dfncis.de>,

That could be viewed as a request, not a requirement, although this would
be more obvious if he said "please".

--
Barry Margolin, bar...@genuity.net
Genuity, Woburn, MA
*** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups.
Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group.

[Jeffrey Siegal]

The sentence that says "YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE NOR CHANGE/EDIT
THAT NOTE" might be a restriction.

Also, if the person who wrote the above note the original author of the
work? In that case, it might be that the work is being distributed
under a "GPL plus restriction" license rather than a conventional GPL
license.

[Francisco]

> Also, if the person who wrote the above note the original author of the
> work? In that case, it might be that the work is being distributed
> under a "GPL plus restriction" license rather than a conventional GPL
> license.

Yes, the person who wrote that is the original author. I don't know the "GPL
plus restrction" but I think is only GPL as is says in every page:

/************************************************************************/
/* PHP-NUKE: Advanced Content Management System */
/* ============================================ */
/* */
/* Copyright (c) 2002 by Francisco Burzi */
/* http://phpnuke.org */
/* */
/* This program is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify */
/* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by */
/* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License. */
/************************************************************************/

but then you can find this notice before the copyright notice:
// DO NOT REMOVE THE FOLLOWING COPYRIGHT LINE. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE
NOR EDIT THIS.

[Jeffrey Siegal]

You might consider asking the original author to rephrase the statement
a bit to make it clear that he is requesting that people not remove it,
not requiring it.

[Francisco]

> You might consider asking the original author to rephrase the statement
> a bit to make it clear that he is requesting that people not remove it,
> not requiring it.

Yes, I think I'll do that.
Thank's for the advise.

Francisco