Re: GPL and linking (was: Urgently need GPL compatible libsnmp5-dev replacement :-()
On 5/6/05, Raul Miller <moth.debian@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/6/05, Michael K. Edwards <m.k.edwards@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 5/6/05, Raul Miller <moth.debian@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > I believe you're objecting to the "that is to say" phrase, which restates what
> > > "work based on the Program": means.
> >
> > Attempts to, anyway.
>
> I think this "attempts to" quip is meaningless.
How would you like me to say it? "Purports to"? "Professes to"?
"Makes an honest but flawed effort to"? Do you not understand my
interpretation that the use of quotes around "work based on the
Program" means that the writer is defining it as shorthand for "either
the Program or any derivative work under copyright law"? And that an
attempt is then made to paraphrase (restate, whatever) the latter
phrase, and that restatement is just plain wrong? You don't have to
agree with it, of course, but surely you get it now.
> > > Yes. And that "either/or" clause says what "work based on the Program"
> > > means.
> >
> > Yep. That phrase is, in its entirety: "either the Program or any
> > derivative work under copyright law". And that's the definition of
> > "work based on the Program" for the duration of the GPL, as far as I'm
> > concerned.
>
> To recap:
>
> W: "work based on the program"
> D: "derivative work"
> E: either/or phrase
> C: phrase after the colon.
>
> W means E
> C paraphrases E
>
> Thus, you have concluded, C attempts to paraphrase D
No. E defines W, which appears in quotes in the original to indicate
that it is being given a formal meaning. C is grammatically a
paraphrase of E. However, C and E are not the same thing according to
law; and grammatically and legally, E is the definition of W, and C is
not. Neither is C \union E, C - D, or some other way to assign W a
meaning based on the wording of W, the content of an unrelated
document, or the distance to the moon.
> Should we keep going back and forth on this, trying to show why
> you believe C attempts to paraphrase D?
I don't, except insofar as C - "the Program" attempts to paraphrase E
- "the Program" (= D). Are we done? And if you're going to move it
to private e-mail, do it, don't grandstand about it. That is also
more characteristic of others around here than it previously has been
of you.
Cheers,
- Michael
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