Re: cdrtools

[Hubert Chan <hubert@uhoreg.ca>]

On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:25:52 +0200, Joerg Schilling <schilling@fokus.fraunhofer.de> said:

> Hubert Chan <hubert@uhoreg.ca> wrote:
>> No, but the combined work (A+B) (i.e. a binary produced by linking
>> module A with module B) is a "work based on" A, and hence (A+B) must
>> be distributable under the terms of the GPL.
>> 
>> Distributing the sources of A with the sources of B may be fine, but
>> Debian would not be legally allowed to distribute a binary produced
>> by linking A with B, since this would not be "mere aggregation".

> If you try to again post claims that have already proven to be wrong,
> I see no reason to continue this "discussion", it only wastes time...

> The GPL is a source license. The fact that you are thinking about the
> "license for a binary" verifies that you did not understand the GPL.

The GPL (section 3) does restrict distributions of binaries ("object
code or executable form", to use the words of the GPL, to be more
accurate, since the GPL only uses the term "binary" once, and only to
refer to a completely different issue) and states that such binaries
must be distributed under the terms of sections 1 and 2 (which seem to
be the important parts of the GPL as far as Debian is concerned).

Section 2b also then states that anything "... derived from the Program
..."  must be licensed under the terms of the GPL, and I can't see how a
binary is not "derived from the Program".

The only place in the GPL that restricts its terms to applying to
sources is section 1, which refers to "verbatim copies of the Program's
source code as you receive it".

The GPL is a source license in the sense that it does not make sense to
apply it only to a binary, due to section 3.  But that does not mean
that its terms do not apply to binaries as well.

[...]

> I did never claim that any possible combination of CDDL & GPL code is
> permitted. ...

Understood.  I think that we all agree that, say, taking code licensed
under the CDDL and linking it to a GPLed library is not allowed.  (And
we all agree that that is not the situation that we're talking about.)

-- 
Hubert Chan - email & Jabber: hubert@uhoreg.ca - http://www.uhoreg.ca/
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