Re: Compiling FSF GNAT standalone?

[Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org>]

Patrick <patrick@spellingbeewinnars.org> writes:

> If I install gnat with apt-get, then I have gnatpp(with bug) called
> through GNAT and I can call gnatmake directly on a file too. If I
> install GCC, I don't get Ada in the vanilla package but if GNAT is
> also installed I have GCC + Ada. If I call gcc with the right flags
> then I can compile a file and release the code under whatever license
> I want but if I call gnatmake can I still release it under whatever
> license I want? If the gnatmake is being called from a Adacore GPL
> package then I can't right? If vanilla GCC is not equipped with GNAT
> but is after GNAT is installed, is the installation process installing
> a totally new version of GCC or is GCC still calling Adacore's GPL
> only GNAT somewhere in the process?

If you don't download & install GNAT GPL from libre.adacore.com, your
Debian installation is using FSF GCC.

gnatmake is a tool used during the build, and has no impact on the
copyright status of any executables you may build with it; in this
context, the only things to worry about are the libraries you use.

One set of libraries is the ADA RTS, necessary to run any Ada program;
this is the part of GNAT GPL that you need to be wary of (the compiler
itself is GCC, but the result of using the compiler isn't; the thing is,
the compiled code relies on the RTS).

If you use any other libraries, you need to think about their licenses
too. Many libraries come with licenses which allow you to distribute
proprietary programs without distributing source - for example,
TclAdaShell[1]. Others, such as ASIS, are full GPL.

[1] https://sourceforge.net/projects/tcladashell/