From: Ullrich von Bassewitz (uz_at_musoftware.de)
Date: 2002-04-02 14:23:52
Hi!
On Tue, Apr 02, 2002 at 02:00:32PM +0200, Adam Dunkels wrote:
> If someone would take a GPL covered program from a third-party and link it
> against, say, Ullrich's RS232 library code, it would be perfectly legal. The
> reason is that the library code is free - it doesn't place any additional
> conditions on the GPL code. There is nothing that forces the RS232 code to be
> relicensed under the GPL.
That is true, but you have forgotten to look at it the other way. The cc65
license does not place additional restrictions on the GPL code - but the GPL
code does have additional demands regarding the cc65 code. If your arguments
were true, how would you interpret the paragraph from the GPL cited by me?
Especially:
But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole
which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the
whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions
for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to
each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
For me this reads: If GPLed code is linked statically to the cc65 library, and
distributed as a whole (as a program binary for example), the whole
(executable) must be on the terms of the GPL, including the parts that were
not GPLed before. The latter is actually a violation of the cc65 copyright,
because it does relicense parts of the cc65 library without agreement of the
author.
I would be glad if you could prove me wrong, so assuming you're right, how do
you think the cited paragraph should be read?
> In the specific case of standard compiler libraries such as the standard C
> library, I believe there are some special wording in the GPL to make it
> possible to compile GPL code even with proprietary libraries.
I've read the GPL several times in the last few days and found no such
wording. It has exceptions in case of "major parts of the operating system you
are using", but I think we agree that this does not cover cc65 and it's
library.
Regards
Uz
--
Ullrich von Bassewitz uz_at_musoftware.de
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