Re: GNAT GPL 2005 Edition is now available

[Niklas Holsti <nobody@nowhere.fi>]

Ludovic Brenta wrote:
> 
> Please take into account that recent versions of ASIS and GLADE are
> only available under GPL, not GMGPL.  The same is true for AWS,
> GtkAda, XML/Ada etc. but is less of a concern because these libraries
> are not tightly coupled with the compiler.
> 
> Please cast a vote on this forum.  This is the time to influence the
> next version of Debian.

I applaud Ludovic for arranging this vote (and I voted already).

However, I think that Ludovic should not feel *bound* to choose 
the alternative that gets the most votes; at least I did not mean 
my vote to have that effect. I understood -- perhaps selfishly -- 
the question to be "what sort of GNAT compiler do you, as a Debian 
Ada user, need for what you are doing" and I voted from that 
perspective.

But perhaps the choice of the next Debian Ada compiler should 
depend more on attracting *new* Ada users. It seems to me that 
this would give more importance to good support of Ada 2005 and 
ASIS and GLADE, to make the full, modern Ada technology available 
on Debian. Therefore, I urge Ludovic to override my vote for a 
GMGPL GNAT if it conflicts with good support of Ada 2005, ASIS and 
GLADE.

Practically speaking, it is probably a lot easier for me to 
install a GMGPL version of GNAT (perhaps an older one) without 
ASIS and GLADE (which I don't need)  than it is for Ludovic and 
his team to make ASIS and GLADE work with a GNAT distribution that 
does not come from AdaCore.

I would also like to ask the group's opinion on a licensing issue 
related to the above. Suppose that GNAT GPL 2005 is chosen as the 
new Debian Ada compiler, but I want to install a GNAT with a GMGPL 
library. Supppose further that I get the sources for such a GNAT 
and compile it (compiler and libraries) with GNAT GPL 2005. The 
resulting compiler is under the strict GPL since it contains the 
strict GPL library. However, as I understand it, application 
programs compiled with the resulting compiler and linked with its 
GMGPL library are not GPL, but can be distributed as binary only. 
Do you agree? I know that no-one (?) here is a lawyer, but I would 
value your opinion on this.

-- 
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
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