Re: Linking a GPL'd library to a LGPL'd one

[Rafael Laboissiere <rafael@icp.inpg.fr>]

* Richard Braakman <dark@xs4all.nl> [2001/07/22 17:42]:

> On Sun, Jul 22, 2001 at 03:03:50PM +0200, Rafael Laboissiere wrote:
> > My problem here is the following: let us say that L1 is released under the
> > LGPL. Now, imagine that some non-free software links against L1.  "No
> > problem, L1 is LGPL'd", you would say.  But, hey!, L1 links against L2,
> > which is GPL'd.  This means, that, in practical terms, L1 can only be used
> > by packages with GPL-compatible licenses, which means that the licensing
> > terms of L1 are, after all, equivalent to the GPL.  So, although L1 is
> > released under the LGPL, it is actually GPL'd (by the fact that is links
> > against L2). 
> 
> The difference becomes significant if someone takes part of L1 and uses
> it in some other project.  Then the dependency on L2 may not apply.
> Even if the dependency is extreme, the other project would reimplement
> L1 under a different license, and then use L2 under the LGPL.

Thanks for your clear repsonse.

I just noticed that this issue has been discussed in debian-legal recently.
I apologize for not having browsed the archives before asking.  There should
be a FAQ for debian-legal...
 
-- 
Rafael