Maybe, they could try but they’re still bound by the GPL to make the source available and can not stop redistributing of the source. So they can make it difficult without violating the GPL itself. IMO it violates the spirit but not the letter.
That being said this kind of fuckery is what everyone was predicting would happen when IBM got ahold of them. I’m surprised it took this long.
All they have to do is put access to the repositories behind some “cloud repo” subscription that requires the agreement, could be free with unlimited registrations. It is still a difficult place for them because they want adoption and to do that they have to be easy, and the alternatives don’t have such hoops.
And piss their existing customers even more? Though maybe IBM doesn't think that far ahead and would go for it.
Maybe, they could try but they’re still bound by the GPL to make the source available and can not stop redistributing of the source. So they can make it difficult without violating the GPL itself. IMO it violates the spirit but not the letter.
That being said this kind of fuckery is what everyone was predicting would happen when IBM got ahold of them. I’m surprised it took this long.
All they have to do is put access to the repositories behind some “cloud repo” subscription that requires the agreement, could be free with unlimited registrations. It is still a difficult place for them because they want adoption and to do that they have to be easy, and the alternatives don’t have such hoops.
And piss their existing customers even more? Though maybe IBM doesn't think that far ahead and would go for it.