The Thief In Chief blew over an extra *trillion* *every* *year* and people weren't' smart enough to fire him.
Well, that didn't take long.
it should be noted that the two facts are not in any way linked
Except by the definition of "first world country". Other than that, absolutely nothing.
And theyre from a communist country
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
which in turn are notionally backed by gold deposits stored in some other location that my bank doesn't know about
We abandoned the gold standard years ago, old man. No currency on Earth is backed by gold right now.
b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by a written offer, valid for at least three years and valid for as long as you offer spare parts or customer support for that product model, to give anyone who possesses the object code either (1) a copy of the Corresponding Source for all the software in the product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical medium customarily used for software interchange, for a price no more than your reasonable cost of physically performing this conveying of source, or (2) access to copy the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
I don't see where this "passing on the offer" part came from.
If I demand the source code and the vendor tells me "we're passing on the offer to you, but too bad so sad it's expired already" then that's fraud, plain and simple.
It's no different than if I brought something on eBay and the seller tells me "the item is no longer being manufactured and thus I can't fulfill your order, thanks for the free money sucker".
[1] This actually provides a fairly simple loophole if you're willing to wait three years: take some GPL code, modify it, and give it to a third party. They then sit on it for three years and then sell it as a binary-only product. They pass on your (now expired) offer, and no one has the right to demand the source code from you.
They can't. If they can't fulfill the requirements of the GPL (offer to provide source for 3 years), then they can't legally distribute the code.
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire
