GMGPL for Ada('s generics) but not for C++('s templates)

GMGPL for Ada('s generics) but not for C++('s templates)

[Dan'l Miller]

Please pardon me if this has been discussed ad infinitum before.  (I would appreciate reading those prior discussions if anyone can find them easier than my fruitless searches on this specific narrow topic.)  But one aspect of the GMGPL being peculiar to Ada has always mystified me.

If FSF Ada in the GCC needs GMGPL due to Ada's generics, then why doesn't FSF C++ in the GCC need a GMGPL for C++'s templates?  It would seem what is sauce for cooking the goose would be the same sauce for cooking the gander.

(By “needs” here, I am of course referring to the licensing needs of a nonGPLed app that merely happens to be written in Ada or in C++ and compiled by a compiler in the GCC.  Of course, GPLed apps would have no such “need”, other than perhaps for the app to choose GPLv2 instead of the GCC's GPLv3.)

Re: GMGPL for Ada('s generics) but not for C++('s templates)

[Simon Wright]

"Dan'l Miller" <optikos@verizon.net> writes:

> Please pardon me if this has been discussed ad infinitum before.  (I
> would appreciate reading those prior discussions if anyone can find
> them easier than my fruitless searches on this specific narrow topic.)
> But one aspect of the GMGPL being peculiar to Ada has always mystified
> me.
>
> If FSF Ada in the GCC needs GMGPL due to Ada's generics, then why
> doesn't FSF C++ in the GCC need a GMGPL for C++'s templates?  It would
> seem what is sauce for cooking the goose would be the same sauce for
> cooking the gander.
>
> (By “needs” here, I am of course referring to the licensing needs of a
> nonGPLed app that merely happens to be written in Ada or in C++ and
> compiled by a compiler in the GCC.  Of course, GPLed apps would have
> no such “need”, other than perhaps for the app to choose GPLv2 instead
> of the GCC's GPLv3.)

You're rather out of date here.

FSF runtimes are nowadays (I suspect since GPLv3) licensed under the GCC
Runtime Library exception: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gcc-exception.