I was asked to convince them to take a license requirement seriously. They weren't represented to me as nasty exploiters, they were pointed out as a high-visibility Linux project which could do us damage by visibly not taking a GPL obligation seriously. They only needed a tiny nudge, they were collecting the source code today (and it's probably still Sunday where they are) and are implementing all necessary changes. In other words, the problem is well on the way to being fixed and I am satisfied with their response.

Yes, you might think it's sufficient to just post your changes and point to some other place where you can find the files. But it turns out that the Debian distribution site has upgraded its versions since the Empeg load was produced and the versions of programs that were shipping in the Empeg weren't available online any longer! That's one reason it makes sense for the people who distribute the binary to distribute source - the version information gets lost otherwise. The other reason is that it's sloppy to expect someone else to fulfill your legal obligation - sometimes they stop doing so without telling you.

My own opinion is that if businesses don't keep an eye to the quid-pro-quo represented by the GPL, a lot fewer people will write free software.

Thanks

Bruce