Hi,
Am Fre, 2003-06-13 um 05.41 schrieb Andrew Suffield:
> > Not sure: Technically, for example, you can modify a program in any
> > possible way just by having access to the assembler code that the
> > compiler generates out of the closed sources, but this would be far too
> > difficult to be realistic. That is why specifically the "preferred form"
> > has to be available. But a clearer definition would be great, of course.
>
> Suppose the author is one of those nutcases that *likes* writing
> assembly code. Under a requirement such as you describe, all the code
> he wrote would be non-free, since nobody else wants to work in that
> form. If you try and "clarify" enough to make this case free, you find
> yourself with a null statement.
>
> Now, let's take it one step further. I postulate that there are
> numerous packages in the archive which are so poorly written, that
> modifying them for a range of useful purposes (including fixing some
> bugs), is too difficult to be realistic; assume this is true for a
> moment. Are they therefore to be considered non-free?
What about this one (attention, not legal english, but I hope it is at
least correct english):
"Unrestricted access to all not-common elements to produce the final
product is a precondition for this".
This would require to publish the code, the Makefiles, any unpublic
compiler patches, maybe some UML files that are needed, while elemtents
like make, gcc and similar do not have to be distributed by the author.
What is common and what not is of course not defined, but as Branden
already said, it will probably not be able to nail it down completely.
This definition works also with Documents (non-common: The LaTeX file,
common: the "letter" document LaTex style), Hardware (non-common: the
blue prints; "common" the lithography machine and the silicon), Humans
(non-common: the order of the 4 bases on the DNA string) :-)
Joachim Breitner
--
Joachim Breitner
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