GPL, modules, and software distribution

I see the GPL brought up a lot lately in the press, and I have some questions as it relates to webhosting software and how this is done.

Its my understanding that I cannot take a script like phpSysinfo, which is GPL and shows the status of your disk and other useful stuff, and include it into my application for server monitoring and sell it / distribute it without releasing the code for my ENTIRE app.

That being said,

How are some of the webhosting panels getting around this?

I know many of them use a customized version of apache running as root. Do they distribute apache in their "installer"? Or does their script grab apache source, patch it / mod it, and then install their scripts on top?

The same can be said for many packages that this software manages, FTP, mail, and more.

Can someone explain how this is done and kept legit, respecting the GPL while still benefitting from using products under that license?

 

 

 

 

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