Re: cdrtools
Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> writes:
> * Thomas Bushnell:
>
>>> As a countermeasure, the FSF tries to extend copyright to interfaces,
>>> so that you do create a derivative work merely by programming to a
>>> specific interface of a library written by someone else, without
>>> copying their code. I'm not sure if this is such a bright idea.
>>
>> Interface copyright attempts to prohibit making a second
>> implementation of the same interface. That is not what is going on
>> here.
>
> I think you mean *user* interface copyright. Interfaces between
> pieces of interoperable software often have no clear distinction
> between the roles of user and program.
Nothing I said was specific to user interface copyright.
> And to some extent, the FSF must claim that it's not possible to
> escape the GPL with a second implementation (so that programs linking
> to readline must still be GPLed, even though you could use libedit as
> a mostly-transparent replacement, for instance).
No, the FSF does not claim this in fact.
However, if you are Debian and distributing a binary that depends upon
the readline library and is in fact linked against that library, then
the GPL's restrictions come into play.
Thomas
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