Re: [GPL] No linking with proprietary programs: where?

[tb@MIT.EDU (Thomas Bushnell, BSG)]

Tomasz Wegrzanowski <maniek@beer.com> writes:

> Where do you thing copyright law starts binding ?
> 
> 1 ) pipe
> 2 ) shared memory
> 3 ) corba
> 4 ) remote procedure call
> 5 ) dynamic linking
> 6 ) dynamic linking, program and lib merged by tar :)
> 8 ) static linking

It doesn't matter.

To distribute a something which is GPL'd, you must distribute the
source code for the entire program.  If you don't do that, then you
are prohibited from distributing the GPL'd portion of the program.
The GPL only lets you copy GPL'd code if you provide the entire source
code to the entire program.

With the exception of "system libraries", the normal interpretation of
"entire program" means that using the exported interface of command
line arguments and data streams does not cause the user to be
considered part of the "same program".  Calling functions in a library
does.  Making system calls to a kernel does not.

It's a case-by-case thing.