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Thanks for the help, Evgeny. makes sense that anyone can use the GPL software privately.. and anyone can distribute the GPL software unchanged as long as the copyright and access to source are preserved...

the tricky part is when someone wants to modify the GPL software, combine it with non GPL modules and distribute the results as a commercial product.. I read the GPLv3 license as saying that it is possible to mash up commercial and GPL code and just publish the GPL sourcecode.. if the GPL is only loosely coupled and not totally dependent on the commercial code for functionality ..

  1. Conveying Modified Source Versions.

You may convey a work based on the Program, or the modifications to produce it from the Program, in the form of source code under the terms of section 4... [snip]

A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent works, which are not by their nature extensions of the covered work, and which are not combined with it such as to form a larger program, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an “aggregate” if the compilation and its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. Inclusion of a covered work in an aggregate does not cause this License to apply to the other parts of the aggregate.