On Sat, Dec 06, 2003 at 06:59:46PM +0100, Måns Rullgård wrote: > Steve Langasek <vorlon@netexpress.net> writes: > >> > This now gets into the hazy realm where it's best not to go - a court > >> > could decide either way. > >> > The argument is, approximately, that by shipping the whole lot > >> > together you are creating a derived work that violates at least once > >> > of the licenses. Certainly you can concoct a case where this is > >> > plausible (wrap them all up in one .deb with a default configuration > >> > that uses both) - and it is not at all clear where to draw the > >> > line. There are legitimate arguments in both directions (the > >> > counter-argument is approximately "It's not derivation, it's > >> > collation"). > >> I have a CD that contains lots of GPL stuff, as well as OpenSSL (it's > >> a Slackware CD). I downloaded it as an iso file from some ftp > >> server. Apparently, an iso9660 format filesystem containing tar files > >> of GPL and GPL incompatible software is allowed. Where is the > >> fundamental difference if the format of the wrapper is changed from > >> iso9660 to tar, and the internal files are shared objects instead of > >> tar files? > > The intent of the distributor in how the individual program bits should > > be used together, and the feasibility of using them separately. (I.e.: > > there is *no* fundamental difference between iso9660 and tar for these > > purposes.) > So what prevents two independent plugins, each usable on it's own, > from being distributed together? That the user could possibly load > both at the same time, creating a "derived work"? This derived work > would only exist in the computers memory during the execution of the > program, and would almost certainly not be distributed. Nothing prevents them from being distributed together; but if you've specified package relationships that will cause both plugins to automatically be pulled into the same program together, that's more than just distributing together, and it's not as clear that this is permitted by the GPL. -- Steve Langasek postmodern programmer
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature