Re: GPL and inhouse use?

[Alexander Terekhov]

Merijn de Weerd wrote:

[... modify any gpl'd code ...]

> was just saying that that should change: also in-house code
> should be shared, once it's out of testing.

That would be at odds with copyright law (which the GPL blatantly
misstates by saying that "nothing else grants you permission to 
modify or distribute"), dear law student.

Adaptations under 17 USC 117. Recommendations for Statutory 
Change (addition of new section 117):

"The conversion of a program from one higher-level language to
another to facilitate use would fall within this right, as
would the right to add features to the program that were not
present at the time of rightful acquisition."

See Final Report of the National Commission on New Technology 
Uses of Copyrighted Works (which has been cited in most of the 
court decisions and law review articles on the copyrightability 
of computer programs).

regards,
alexander.