bperrybap:
My understanding is that the overall intent of all the LGPL/GPL licenses is to always give
the end user the ability to update or alter the open source modules.
I have never thought the intent of the licensing has anything to do with giving the end user (specifically) the ability to do anything.
I think the intent is to prevent any new developer from legally prohibiting access to code that a previous developer had put into the public domain by claiming it to be the proprietary property of the new developer. In particular it is intended to counter creeping development from moving an improved version of what was originally Open Source code out of the public domain.
Some of the licences are written to require the new developer to make his new code open source if he chooses to include some licensed code in his new code.
In other cases new developers are allowed to include licensed code in a commercial product without requiring the commercial product to be open source. In that case the new developer usually has an obligation to make the licensed code available to others - and I think it is usually sufficient to have a link to where it caan be downloaded.
I think the general question to ask yourself is whether your use of the licensed code will infringe the rights of the person who developed it - that is the person who may (in both the senses of "might" and "will have the entitlement to") sue you.
...R