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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,faf964ea4531e6af X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1025b4,43ae7f61992b3213 X-Google-Attributes: gid1025b4,public From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: GPL and "free" software Date: 1999/04/29 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 472405196 Distribution: world References: <7fibd5$jc7$1@news2.tor.accglobal.net> <7g7o6d$lrj$1@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu> <925402294.548.49@news.remarQ.com> <3728AAFA.FAD4A827@doc.ic.ac.uk> X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Trace: /bNDCyHT47S6K/HZKcdpGOF8JEc+GJ6oRHbJZQlO1DJf7DG06IV3QfKCZnFzulakDmroKym+3xT+!ZIlJSeaSDUi2QeuiTSE7C6coy3DW6oRXFQdt/Jbs8SYWjlbNBEMX5W2W3qCvHA== Organization: GTE Internetworking, Cambridge, MA X-Copies-To: never NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 19:16:47 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,gnu.misc.discuss Originator: barmar@bbnplanet.com (Barry Margolin) Date: 1999-04-29T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article <3728AAFA.FAD4A827@doc.ic.ac.uk>, Ed Avis wrote: >Fraser Wilson wrote: > >>Ada libraries are commonly distributed with this additional freedom: >> >>-- As a special exception, if other files instantiate generics from this -- >>-- unit, or you link this unit with other files to produce an executable, -- >>-- this unit does not by itself cause the resulting executable to be -- >>-- covered by the GNU General Public License. > >That seems silly. Why not just distribute them under the LGPL, which >is basically the GPL with the above exception built in? The LGPL also has additional requirements. You have to distribute the unlinked object files and the source to the library, so that the recipient can modify the library and relink. I believe there are some standard GNU programs that include an exception similar to the above clause. For instance, programs produced using Bison contain a copy of a sizable portion of Bison in the yyparse() function. Bison was originally distributed under the normal GPL, which meant that anything produced by it was a derived work, and had to be distributed under the GPL (or something compatible). An exception like Ada's was added to Bison 1.24. The info file regarding this exception mentions that GCC has always had such an exception (an object file produced by a compiler includes large chunks of code taken verbatim out of tables in the code generator). -- Barry Margolin, barmar@bbnplanet.com GTE Internetworking, Powered by BBN, Burlington, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group.