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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!mx02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!gandalf.srv.welterde.de!news.jacob-sparre.dk!loke.jacob-sparre.dk!pnx.dk!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Jacob Sparre Andersen Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: What exactly is the licensing situation with GNAT? Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 11:38:20 +0100 Organization: Jacob Sparre Andersen Research & Innovation Message-ID: <87fvdr2vdv.fsf@adaheads.sparre-andersen.dk> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 109.56.227.90.mobile.3.dk Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: loke.gir.dk 1415615901 25692 109.56.227.90 (10 Nov 2014 10:38:21 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@jacob-sparre.dk NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:38:21 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.4 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:4OixYWp6G9ab6kRANcBEJ+Qohbo= Xref: news.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:23109 Date: 2014-11-10T11:38:20+01:00 List-Id: Hubert wrote: > I'm trying to understand the particular situation that Adacore's Gnat > package has. AdaCore distributes two "GNAT" packages: 1) GNAT Pro 2) GNAT GPL You should be aware that the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Debian and others distribute a third variant of GNAT, typically known as GNAT FSF. GNAT FSF has more or less the same license as GNAT Pro, but the releases tend to fall a bit behind GNAT Pro and GNAT GPL. > A) The compiler is basically GPL meaning anybody can copy it. True for both. > B) The Ada and Gnat libraries that come with it are also GPL so if you > use them to write a program and give that program away you must also > give away the source code. Not true for GNAT Pro. True for GNAT GPL. > C) If you buy the Pro version your receive the runtime libraries with > a different license that allows you to sell a program written with > them without giving out the code. You don't buy GNAT Pro. You buy a support contract. With the support contract you "magically" get access to GNAT Pro. > D) Here I am not sure: If you write a program that does not use the > Ada and Gnat libraries, then you are not obliged to give away the > source code as well since you dont use any GPL licensed code in your > program? True for GNAT Pro. Not necessarily true for GNAT GPL, as the run-time library for GNAT GPL is plain GPL, and typically will be compiled into your application. > E) What about the Ada.Standard library which is a pseudo library and > built into the compiler? One has to use elements from that library, > there's no way around that. If you compile your application with GNAT Pro, everything is fine. If you compile it with GNAT GPL, you should assume that the application is plain GPL. As I see it, the main reason for downloading and using GNAT GPL is to get to play with the latest version of GNAT (without spending money on a support contract). If you want to be able to distribute your software according to your preferred license, you should stick to GNAT FSF and/or make enough money to pay for a support contract. Greetings, Jacob -- "Universities are not part of the nation's security organisation, they are not the nation's research laboratory either: they are the nation's universities." -- E.W. Dijkstra