undefined | Better HN

0 pointskmeisthax5y ago0 comments

Yes, but if you take the software from the App Store, you are bound by App Store TOS. The TOS supercedes any Free Software rights you may have had from the license; and prohibits you from redistributing the software, which trips GPL's no-further-restrictions clause. Of course, you can take both sets of terms for the App Store and a self-compiled version, and you can then distribute modifications to the source code of the self-compiled version under GPL terms. But you cannot upload software to the App Store under GPL terms without violating the GPL.

In practice, this means you cannot actually put GPL applications on iOS unless you get a CLA from every developer on the project. This means a lot of perfectly good GPL-licensed applications will never actually get ported to iOS. You'll never see, say, Blender or Krita on iPad until and unless they CLA all their developers so that they can actually distribute the port legally.

If Blender Foundation or whoever runs Krita does have a CLA requirement for contributors, then consider that particular example corrected, but my point still stands: You should be able to distribute GPL software on the App Store and have the GPL terms supercede the App Store TOS.

0 comments

5 comments · 1 top-level

mullingitover5y ago· 4 in thread

> In practice, this means you cannot actually put GPL applications on iOS unless you get a CLA from every developer on the project.

Again, simply not true. If you obtain the source code, build, and run your own iOS apps on your own device you have no issues with GPL compliance. Honestly I'm disappointed that more open source projects don't go this route. Blender could easily provide an xcode project that anyone can build and run on their device outside the app store. They choose not to, but there's nothing stopping them.

kmeisthaxOP5y ago

That's entirely impractical. "Hey, want to run Blender on your iPad? Just buy a $600+ real computer and install a bunch of cross-compilation tools on it then sideload the app every seven days before it expires! It's so easy!"

Sideloading Blender misses the point. If you need to buy a real computer to compile Blender, then you already have a computer to just run Blender on directly. Furthermore, sideloading isn't exactly Apple-sanctioned. It's actually fairly cumbersome: you either need a Mac to run Xcode on, or you have to run a piece of third-party software that you put your iCloud password into, which then uses some Mail/iTunes plugins to forcibly resign and sync your IPA. Oh, and you need to redo that every seven days or the app breaks. Furthermore, Apple could break or prohibit sideloading at any moment and you would have no recourse.

If sideloading was a useful way to distribute software, Epic would be distributing a sideloadable EGS and Fortnite on iOS right now.

wvenable5y ago

As long as you have a valid developer certificate to sign the app and you have a development provisioning profile and your device is registered as a test device. For that you need to be registered as an iPhone Developer Program member ($99). And you have to constantly renew your profile.

mullingitover5y ago

> For that you need to be registered as an iPhone Developer Program member ($99)

Again, simply not true. You don't need a paid developer license for local installs, and this has been the case for a very long time.

1 more reply

Nullabillity5y ago

And you need to have a Mac. Because reasons, I guess.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse