From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Oct 29 16:25:22 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 87FAA16A4CE for ; Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:25:22 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mail1.webmaster.com (mail1.webmaster.com [216.152.64.168]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 47C0143D3F for ; Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:25:22 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from davids@webmaster.com) Received: from however by webmaster.com (MDaemon.PRO.v7.1.0.R) with ESMTP id md50000250011.msg for ; Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:01:30 -0700 From: "David Schwartz" To: , Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:24:55 -0700 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0) Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 In-Reply-To: X-Authenticated-Sender: joelkatz@webmaster.com X-Spam-Processed: mail1.webmaster.com, Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:01:30 -0700 (not processed: message from trusted or authenticated source) X-MDRemoteIP: 206.171.168.138 X-Return-Path: davids@webmaster.com X-MDaemon-Deliver-To: chat@freebsd.org X-MDAV-Processed: mail1.webmaster.com, Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:01:32 -0700 cc: TM4525@aol.com Subject: RE: GPL vs BSD Licence X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: davids@webmaster.com List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:25:22 -0000 > The GPL and Linux don't care if you link into their system libraries, > they expect that which is why the system libraries are LGPLd > > What they care about is linking into libraries (like readline) which > they consider "their" work. If you do it, regardless of whether you > use those library headers or use a translation think like you are > outlining here, you must GPL your stuff. > > The contamination comes from linking in, even dynamically, not from > just using ascii source files. Since the linking occurs *after* the distribution, it's part of use. How a work is used, after its made and distributed, can't make it a derived work of another work. The only way the GPL can be mandatory is if the thing it is claimed to be mandatory for is a derived work. If I write a piece of code that uses a defined interface, it's utterly preposterous to argue that it is derivative from an *implementation* of that interface, since it could be used with *any* implementation of that interface. It is, of course, derivative of the interface itself, which is why I clearly specified that you should use your own interface. DS