> I think he misunderstands the importance of putting out the source code for his emulators right away
The GPL does not require this.
The GPLv2 says this:
a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
customarily used for software interchange; or,
(choice c is only available for non-commercial releases).
Note (b): you do not have to provide the source code on a public server, nor do you have to do so immediately. The requirements are:
1. A notice that source code is available for three years upon request
2. That requests for source code be honored at cost
If nobody ever requests your source, you're still compliant with the GPLv2 if you never release it.
edit: and note that, for a commercial product, you only have to honor customer requests.
The GPL does not require this.
The GPLv2 says this:
(choice c is only available for non-commercial releases).Note (b): you do not have to provide the source code on a public server, nor do you have to do so immediately. The requirements are:
1. A notice that source code is available for three years upon request
2. That requests for source code be honored at cost
If nobody ever requests your source, you're still compliant with the GPLv2 if you never release it.
edit: and note that, for a commercial product, you only have to honor customer requests.