Re: linking to GPL'd libraries WAS Re: One unclear point in the Vim license
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcus Brinkmann" <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
To: <debian-legal@lists.debian.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: linking to GPL'd libraries WAS Re: One unclear point in the Vim license
> On Fri, Jan 04, 2002 at 05:22:07PM +1100, Hamish Moffatt wrote:
> > For example, the kernel is GPLed but will load and run programs
> > with incompatible licenses. Those programs make syscalls to
> > the kernel to perform system work; how is this permitted?
> > It is so different from an incompatibly-licensed program linking
> > to a GPLed library?
>
> And Linus Torvald has added a statement just before the GPL in the file
> COPYING at the top level directory of the kernel source tree that makes it
> clear that he thinks that user level programs that only use syscalls to
> communicate with the kernel are considered to be using the kernel in a
> normal way.
Best on the quality information that I have gained
following these discussions -- thank you -- to say the
same thing that you have Marcus a little bit
different. The kernel is not strictly GPL'd, but
GPL-compatible. That clause that says system calls are
a-ok, supports the moral/legal intention of the GPL by
requiring such a declariation to be explicit. Correct?
Best regards,
Lloyd
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