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Re: Debian based GNU/Solaris: pilot program



On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, Matthew Garrett wrote:
Debian scales fine on non-glibc ports. It doesn't do so well on non-GPL
compatible ports. These are very much not the same thing.

In fact, Debian and GPL software in general work just fine on non-GPL compatible platforms. I use and distribute (even commercially) a number of GPLed programs compiled for the most closed, evil and proprietary libc in existence (msvc), and I have a full right to do so. In fact, a good deal of Debian packages compile and run using both CygWin and Microsoft libraries -- libraries that are shipped with the OS.

The only restriction is that I can't distribute GPLed things and MS Windows _together_. This is purely intentional, and it was devised as a way to fight proprietary operating systems. The OS exception is there to make the likes of Microsoft or Sun compelled to give us a set of well-defined freedoms. That is, the licensing problems you have are not a side issue that should be worked around, they arise from one of key goals of the GPL.

Regards,
--
/-----------------------\ Shh, be vewy, vewy quiet,
| kilobyte@mimuw.edu.pl | I'm hunting wuntime ewwows!
\-----------------------/
Segmentation fault (core dumped)



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