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From: dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)
Subject: Re: what DOES the GPL really say?
Date: 1997/06/29
Message-ID: <dewar.867587841@merv>#1/1
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References: <m2oh8ydzt8.fsf@devo.ridgenet.net> <dewar.867079112@merv>
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Organization: New York University
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,gnu.misc.discuss
Date: 1997-06-29T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


user@yellow says

<<Seems pretty simple when expressed that way.  I think an obstacle to
adopting this view point is that the GPL'd code seems to be right in
your face mocking you!  Nobody seems to have the same problem  with
say Windows95 source code that they'll never see anyway.
>>

If the GPL code seems to "mock" you in this case, it can only be because
you do not understand the intention or the legal details of the GPL.
Whenever you contemplate making use of someone else's code in your own,
it is your responsibility to understand the legal requirements for doing
this without violating copyright.

It is certainly true that a lot of the perceived difficulties with the
GPL come from misunderstandings, which is why this thread is useful
in sorting out some of these misunderstandings.