@jernej__s The explanation is wrong.

The AGPLv3 is not an "EULA", as you don't need to agree to it merely to use the software.

All "EULAs" I've read (not many) require you to agree to the terms merely to use the software and also forbid pretty much everything but limited personal usage.


I haven't looked deeply into the Gentoo dspam case, but it appears that dspam has been modified by the Gentoo developers via patches, so they are obliged to provide the complete source code under the same license for the software for everyone they convey it to, which they have done by conveying the source code only.

The relevant part of the AGPLv3 is: "if you modify the Program, your modified version must prominently offer all users interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source of your version by providing access to the Corresponding Source from a network server"

If YOU were to run `emerge dspam`, YOU haven't modified the program, rather the Gentoo developers have - the fact that the patching process happens prior to the compilation stage is irrelevant.

I'm not exactly sure as to the workings of dspam, but it appears to scan received emails for spam and mark emails as spam or not.

As a result, I don't see any remote user interaction - as users seem to interact with unrelated SMTP daemon software while sending the email even at corner cases (i.e. SMTP via netcat).

It seems that only once the user network interaction has ended, that dspam is able to scan the email and determines if it's "spam".


It appears that if you were to install dspam on your personal email server used only by you, you could make any private modifications you want, as there are no "users interacting with it remotely through a computer network", aside from only you in certain cases, but you already have the source code.

The same is probably true for installation on a email server used by multiple users over a network, if all users only interact with unrelated STMP and/or POP3 software.


Although, if you were to setup a "spam detection SaaSS system", where users directly interact with dspam's "spam" detection features, then section 13 does indeed apply and you need to offer the corresponding source code to all users if YOU modify it.