Re: free source code which requires non-free tools to build (dscaler modules for tvtime)

[Matt Zimmerman <mdz@debian.org>]

On Fri, Sep 05, 2003 at 03:08:59PM -0400, Matt Zimmerman wrote:

> However, there are some additional source code modules in DScaler which have
> not (yet?) been ported to build and run under Linux.  These are also useful
> for tvtime, and it can make use of them by loading them in binary (DLL) form
> using WINE.
> [...]
> 2. If the DLLs are included in contrib, I assume that the package must
> include the corresponding source code for GPL compliance, even though it
> cannot be built on Debian, and would not be touched during the package build
> process.  Is this correct?

Thanks for all the feedback so far.  I have one further question:

I'm having some difficulty interpreting paragraph 3 of the GPL in this case,
due to the unusual situation of using the Windows executable on a
non-Windows platform.  I'll include the paragraph from the GPL verbatim here
for reference:

| The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making
| modifications to it.  For an executable work, complete source code means
| all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
| interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation
| and installation of the executable.  However, as a special exception, the
| source code distributed need not include anything that is normally
| distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components
| (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the
| executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

To me, it seems clear that the intent is to allow someone who already has a
build environment, capable of producing "hello world" on their target
platform, to compile the source code.  So, if I have a Windows build
environment (or equivalent tools on another platform), I can build the
Windows executable.  Or, if I have a Linux build environment, I would have
enough information to try to port it.

Legally, how does this apply to running a Windows executable using WINE?  It
would seem to depend on the interpretation of "the operating system on which
the executable runs".  It could either be "the operating system for which
the executable is built" or "the operating system on which the executable is
being run".

The former interpretation seems much more sensible to me, but again, I would
appreciate a second opinion.

-- 
 - mdz