Re: Combining proprietary code and GPL for in-house use

[Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS <edmundo@rano.org>]

Thomas Bushnell, BSG <tb@becket.net>:

> > (1) The idea that compiling and linking a program is not restricted by
> > copyright; you don't need special permission to compile and link a
> > program once you have obtained a copy of it. 
> 
> But this is a confusion.  In one sense it's true, but in another sense
> it's false.
> 
> One might also say that compiling and linking a program is not
> restricted by the murder statute.  But it might well be that those are
> steps in causing some machine to kill a person, and in that case,
> compiling and linking would be a murderous act.

It would be part of a murderous act.

> In the instant case, compiling and linking is not specifically
> prohibited by the copyright statute, but that doesn't mean that you
> can ignore the fact that they are going on.  They might well be part
> of a larger more complicated activity, which *is* an act of illegal
> copying. 

Yes. I might be compiling and linking the "cp" program, which I then
use to copy a different program onto a floppy, which I then give to a
friend.

However, I don't think this is very relevant to the point I was
making.

Edmund