On Saturday 15 April 2006 19:42, Philip Tellis wrote:
Free to use without restriction - okay Free to redistribute without restriction - sort of okay Free to modify without restriction - nope
You are free to modify if and only if you either do not redistribute your modified version, or you release your modified version under the same terms.
In support of your statement I am quoting the GPL: The GPL does not require you to release your modified version. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the organization.
But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.
Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.
Source: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic