Subject: Re: Formal Source Code Request (GPLv3) - Genmitsu 3030-PROVer MAX Firmware

Jamie,

The GPLv3 does not condition source availability on the recipient's purpose, so that
is not a question I need to answer for the request to stand. I will answer it anyway,
so it cannot be used as a reason to delay: I develop CAM software that generates
4-axis toolpaths, and I have users running Genmitsu machines. I want the source to
verify how the controller plans and executes motion on the A axis.

The obligation here does not arise from a purchase. It arises from distribution.
SainSmart publishes this firmware for public download at:

  https://genmitsu.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/101-60-3030PVM/3030_PROVerMAX_Firmware_V3.0.zip

linked from your own resource page at:

  https://docs.sainsmart.com/article/fov840u38d-3030-prover-max

That file is served to anyone who requests it. No login, no account, no proof of
purchase. I received it from that URL on 17 August 2026. It is 239,154 bytes,
SHA-256 cb044bc6757d59a1e4ba79f5a99f1967245684eee8c0f1d4ade31aa6f26a7e04, which
matches the x-amz-meta-sha256 value recorded on your own S3 object. It contains
firmware.bin, 119,796 bytes, SHA-256
582322cd7bb8ae4c159376330e2731ca1281a35472ea9968558d6091343a911f. There is no
ambiguity about which file is under discussion.

GPLv3 section 6(d) is explicit. Conveying object code by offering access from a
designated place requires offering equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in
the same way, through the same place, at no further charge. Publishing that download
is the act that creates the obligation. Receiving it is what makes someone a
recipient entitled to the source.

That the GPLv3 applies is not my characterisation. It is what the binary says about
itself. firmware.bin contains the GRBL startup banner "Grbl 1.1f ['$' for help]",
along with "Grbl for ARM32", "GRBL Controller V2" and the version string "[VER:ARM32
V3.0.20230816:". It implements GRBL's status and error protocol, including [HLP:,
[OPT:, |MPos:, |WPos:, ALARM: and error:. GRBL is licensed under the GPLv3. The image
contains no licence notice, no copyright notice and no written offer of source
anywhere in its 119,796 bytes.

What is requested is the Corresponding Source as the GPLv3 defines it: the source
needed to generate, install and run this object code and to modify it, including the
build scripts and configuration, and specifically the multi-axis and 4th axis
configuration for the A axis. This request covers the published V3.0 release. The
same obligation applies to every other version SainSmart distributes, including
V3.2.20240823.

On the possibility that the answer is no. The obligation runs to everyone who
received the binary, not to me specifically. Declining this request does not settle
anything. It leaves the obligation outstanding as to every person who has downloaded
that file, and it will be raised again by someone else.

I am not in a position to enforce the licence and I am not claiming otherwise. The
parties who are in that position are the GRBL copyright holders, and organisations
such as the Software Freedom Conservancy and the Free Software Foundation exist to
assist them with precisely this. If SainSmart declines to make the Corresponding
Source available, referring the matter to them is the next step.

Tell me where the source can be obtained, or state SainSmart's position. If that
position is that this firmware is not a GRBL derivative and the GPLv3 does not apply,
say so plainly and in writing, because it is not what the binary says about itself.

Jason
myemail937@gmail.com