[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: FWD: Bug#121916: analog should be in non-free



Stephen Turner <analog-author@lists.isite.net> writes:

> But I am getting a bit confused here. Take the zlib licence, for example,
> which contains the condition:
>   3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
> The FSF says that this is compatible with the GPL, but I don't understand
> how this can be so. It imposes an extra restriction, namely the requirement
> to reproduce the zlib copyright and licence notice, in addition to the terms
> of the GPL. Can someone explain to me how this can be GPL-compatible?


Section 2 of the GPL says that modified versions of a GPL'd work must
be distributed "under the terms of this License".  The GPL itself, in
section 1, requires that you publish with an "appropriate copyright
notice".  

The requirement of, say, the X Consortium license, that you preserve
its copyright notice is itself part of an "appropriate copyright
notice"; the GPL itself mandates that you keep it around.  

It is sometimes thought that the GPL prohibits "adding additional
conditions", but that's just a shorthand.  What it actually requires
is that modified versions be distributed "under the terms of this
License", which is not *quite* the same thing.




Reply to: