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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,365c587e3030d8f6 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: dewar@gnat.com Subject: Re: Software License Blather Date: 1998/11/21 Message-ID: <7359b8$qlo$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 414068752 References: <364BE12F.F38A285C@cts.com> <72inaf$8it$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <72pcj5$eg6$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <732be5$dd3$1@news.nyu.edu> <3654CC2B.63DD8D5D@easystreet.com> <734eo8$41v$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <3655D794.82E85B02@easystreet.com> X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 x4.dejanews.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 205.232.38.14 Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion X-Article-Creation-Date: Sat Nov 21 02:42:51 1998 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.04 [en] (OS/2; I) Date: 1998-11-21T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article <3655D794.82E85B02@easystreet.com>, Al Christians wrote: > dennison@telepath.com wrote: > > > > > > Yes, you can always sue someone. But does the GPL protect CJ in court from > > this charge? That's a bit foggy. The answer probably depends on the relative > > quality of their laywers. :-) > > > > Sad but true, and 'quality of lawyers' might be taken by most to be > an oxymoron. These kinds of issues sometimes go from abstract > conjecture to serious business quickly. Out here in Oregon, we've got > someone who went to jail (ie jail, as in prison) for commercial > theft of software from his employer. The software he 'stole' from his > employer was never taken off the employer's premises, and the only copy > found in the possession of the thief was on the employer's computer at > the employer's facility. > > One of the ways these puzzles are live for me is that me and my clients > are typically bound by plenty of third party agreements. Say that my > client spends $million on software licenses from BIGBIGCO. They hire me > to help them use it, and make me sign a contract that gives me access to > BIGBIGCO's products, but I have to agree to do it by their rules, > which are that I'm doing work for hire for BIGBIGCO. Fine, so far. > > Suppose I look at some piece of code in BIGBIGCO's system written > for Robert Dewar's old Cobol compiler and decide that Robert is doing > much better these days and I rewrite it in Ada. I give the new version > to my client. This is ok, because according to all the legal > mumbo-jumbo we are tied up with, BIGBIGCO really owns my code, I know > that, the client is licensed to use it, and all is happy. Even if this > is under GPL because I've used GPL code, this is ok, because both me and > client are bound to follow GPL if we distribute it further, which we > can't, so we won't. > > But the reason I stay away from GPL, is that client has employees, and > if one of them comes into possession of my GPL'd code and carries it > to another company, we've got a lifetime of work for seven lawyers > figuring out how much I owe to whom for setting this mess up. And about > the same if BIGBIGCO gets a copy of my code that is legally a work for > hire for them and then distributes it elsewhere without following GPL. > > Fortunately, LGPL and similar are becoming much more common than GPL, > and these aren't quite as scary. So, sincere thanks to ACT and everyone > else who uses LGPL or anything like it, so that GPL doesn't put me into > the fog between too many lawyers. There is so much misinformation in the above post that I can't even think where to begin, so I think I won't. I will just say that GNAT does not use the LGPL, as I think most people who have studied this issue at all are aware. Anyway, if anyone has any concerns about the GPL with respect to using GNAT, please contact Ada Core Technologies and we will be happy to answer your questions. It is our experience that when people understand the situation, they realize that the way in which GNAT is licensed is wholly advantageous for users, and is not a problem at all. It is true there is a lot of misinformation traveling around, and this misinformation does occasionally cause problems. Just be sure that when you are considering licensing issues (for any license, not just the GPL, or the ACT modified GPL), be sure to talk to people who know what they are talking about! Robert Dewar Ada Core Technologies -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own