Distributing programs

[Magnus Lycka]

Jason wrote:
> A non-python programming friend of mine has said that any programs made 
> with Python must be distributed with, or an alternative link, to the 
> source of the program.
> 
> Is this true?

There seems to be some confusion regarding what you are asking.

Are you asking about legal issues of about technical issues?
Perhaps your friend is confused about these issues.

There are no licence problems with Python. It doesn't use
anything like GPL. You do what you like with your code.

Technically, Python code is compiled into bytecode (like Java)
but in contrast with typical Java apps, it's common that
Python code is delivered as source. As someone else mentioned,
python modules are automatically compiled the first time they
are imported, and the compiled modules will be used directly
the next time, unless you change the source code (Python looks
at file modification times).

Typically, it seems professional programmers developing commercial 
software with Python worry little about their sourcecode being
accessible. Source code is protected by copyright after all, and
hiding source code doesn't prevent people from stealing software
anyway.

For some strange reason, it seems that it's almost always complete
beginners that express their worries that someone will steal their
valuable intellectual property if they distribute source, and that
somehow strikes me as unlikely.