Re: GNAT GPL 2005 Edition is now available

["Ludovic Brenta" <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org>]

David Trudgett a écrit :

> Jamie Ayre <ayre@adacore.com> writes:
>
> > AdaCore announces the immediate availability of the GNAT GPL 2005
> > Edition.
> >
> > AdaCore is pleased to announce the release of the GNAT GPL 2005
> > Edition to provide Free Software developers, that is developers that
> > distribute their work under the GPL (GNU General Public License), the
> > latest and most advanced Ada 2005 software development environment.
>
> Hello, Jamie,
>
> Your website says:
>
>     The GNAT GPL Edition is licensed for Free Software development and
>     is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public
>     License (GPL). Read the terms carefully before downloading.
>
> (It then provides a link to the GPL licence at gnu.org.)
>
> The GCC compiler is also licensed under the GPL, which allows the
> development and distribution of proprietary software using that
> compiler. Could you please explain here on comp.lang.ada how the same
> licence can have two different effects, one for GCC, and another for
> GNAT?
>
> Thank you.
>
> David

It's the run-time library.

The compiler has always been GPL, and this does not affect programs
compiled with it.  In contrast, parts of the run-time library are
linked into programs compiled with GCC or GNAT (unless the zero
run-time option is chosen).  The GNAT run-time library used to have
a slightly different license, the "GNAT-Modified GPL" (or GMGPL as
we know it here), granting special permission to link this library
into proprietary programs.  GNAT GPL 2005 Edition revokes that
special permission by using the pure GPL.

Now what is confusing is that it is still possible to obtain a
GMGPL run-time library from gcc.gnu.org.  But this may change in
the future, at the FSF's option.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.