Re: Ada in Debian: most libraries will switch to the pure GPL in Etch

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

"Carroll, Andrew" <andrew.carroll@okstate.edu> writes:

>>> Georg quoted
>>> - All software downloaded from AdaCore is pure GPL, no matter what
> the
>>>  headers say.
>
> If this were true then why can't "a person" just change the headers to
> say whatever they want the headers to say?
>
> Also, if this the common understanding then why is this understanding
> not written in the "free software" licensing headers (for any level of
> "General Purpose")?
>
> Sounds to me like the issue isn't what the headers say/contain or
> complying with the headers.  The problem is in the fact that there's
> really no regulation of what the headers say or who complies or doesn't.

No, the issue is the one you described in your first sentence.  The
headers or COPYING file have no legal force, precisely because you
cannot prove that they apply to the software, and that they were
written by the author of the software.  So, what Robert Dewar said is:
to be sure, you must ask the author.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.