Re: LICENSES [was: Re: Have you seen this?]
On Sat, Oct 10, 1998 at 05:42:53AM +0200, Arnt Gulbrandsen wrote:
> Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
> > The GPL'ed apps require that the work as a whole must be distributable
> > "under the terms of the GPL".
>
> No. It's stricter, it requires that "the distribution of the whole
> must be on the terms of this License". That is, distribut_ed_, not
> distribut_able_. Big difference.
So? What exactly is the difference, please explain it to me. Does it say
"you must license the whole and individual parts under the GPL"? No. Does it
say: "All parts must be GPL'ed?" No. If you have multiple parts of a whole,
you can opnly distribute it (if at all) under the terms of the most
restrictive license. The GPL text says, that no license is allowed to be
more strict that the GPL.
It does say "Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or
contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is
to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
collective works based on the Program."
So, why do you always quote out of context and try to narrow the issue to a
single word? Is the full text of the GPL unavailable to you? I can send you
a copy, if you want.
If you mix GPL with Public Domain, the whole must be distributed under the
terms of the GPL. But *nothing* and *nobody* claims that the PD part must be
GPL'ed to do this, nor does it say that you can't rip the PD part out again
and do with it what you want.
As a side issue: The PD may not be the best example, as PD is explicitely
not copyrighted at all. You may want to use BSD style licenses as a better
example, or X license.
> > Do you think that means that I have to
> > re-license the individual parts?
>
> If the GPL said what you said in the first sentence, then I would not
> think so.
The single word doesn't make the difference. Read again, and read also the
paragraph that follows.
Marcus
--
"Rhubarb is no Egyptian god." Debian GNU/Linux finger brinkmd@
Marcus Brinkmann http://www.debian.org master.debian.org
Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de for public PGP Key
http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Marcus.Brinkmann/ PGP Key ID 36E7CD09
Reply to: