From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.1 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00, INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f65d0,bd4d2fccdf730b16 X-Google-Attributes: gidf65d0,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,1efdd369be089610 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Spam Hater Subject: Re: what DOES the GPL really say? Date: 1997/06/24 Message-ID: <33B014E3.3343@no.such.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 252296859 Sender: usenet@most.fw.hac.com (News Administration) X-Nntp-Posting-Host: sparc02 References: Organization: See Warning Below! Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,gnu.gcc Date: 1997-06-24T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: > Robert Dewar wrote: > We often find that people have strange misconceptions > about the GPL, ... First, I am NOT trying to defend R. Cole's continuing hogwash. ACT is, IMHO, fully compliant with the GPL, and the "special exception" in the headers of all their RTS files is very reasonable. HOWEVER, several people have said on Usenet or in direct e-mail that I can use GPL'd source code in my project and still retain full rights (actually my employer's rights) on the rest of the code. If this were true, there would be no need for GNAT's "special exception." Note that I am NOT talking about the GNU "Library" License. Here is the relevant paragraph of the GPL: 2.b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License. So, if any part of my program contains any part (or derivation of) their program, I have two choices: 1. Distribute my program "as a whole" under the terms of the GPL 2. Don't distribute my program. (If you play with my ball, you play by my rules.) David Weller's "Ada Community License" and GNAT's "special exception" are very welcome relief from the above restriction. I am sympathetic to the goals of the Free Software Foundation, but I think that--by trying too hard to coerce other people to make software "free"--the above paragraph is counter-productive to those goals. It forces me to re-invent things just so my employers can say they own them. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wes Groleau, Hughes Defense Communications, Fort Wayne, IN USA Senior Software Engineer - AFATDS Tool-smith Wanna-be wwgrol AT pseserv3.fw.hac.com Don't send advertisements to this domain unless asked! All disk space on fw.hac.com hosts belongs to either Hughes Defense Communications or the United States government. Using email to store YOUR advertising on them is trespassing! ----------------------------------------------------------------------