I read the FAQ, and came across #11 that seems to answer my question, but I'm no lawyer, and the "legalese" surrounding web development just keeps getting harder and harder to follow.
11: Do I have to give the code for my web site to anyone who visits it?
No. The GPL does not consider viewing a web site to count as "distributing",
so you are not required to share the code running on your server.
If someone were to create a commercial web app similar to drupal gardens consisting of custom modules, possible changes to core, inclusion of existing GPL'd modules, and a pricing plan for access to the service, does that service in turn need to offer full source code?
Two things on the Internet brought me to this confusion. Firstly, DrupalGardens and Mollom both exist which are, for purposes of discussion, derivative works for drupal with a pricing structure. Secondly, there is a javascript library called extjs by Sencha that has this very weird GPL vs Commercial license offering that sort of twists by brain (by default all Javascript is open source if not compressed, so while it's off topic for this website, I find it peculiar that there is a push to force any commercial deployment to give up the GPL and purchase a commercial license).
As always, I apologize if this post is in the wrong place or just plain stupid. I assume it will be a straightforward answer, so many thanks for your reply!
Comments
No
Offering a service using GPL code is not distributing the code, so you would not be required to give copied of the code to your customers.
If, however, you had a service such as Gardens does where a customer can "package up" their site and take it with them by downloading the code base and code, then that would count as distribution and you'd have to provide them with the code under the GPL.
I cannot speak to ExtJS's situation as I do not now the details there. I only know that there was a flap about its license changing a few years back from LGPL to GPLv3. I can only say that just because some firm is trying a given GPL/commercial hybrid does not inherently mean that they are doing so correctly. :-) Whether or not ExtJS is, I cannot say as I don't know the details and am not an attorney.