Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
Jeremy Hankins <nowan@nowan.org> writes:
>> What I'm trying to find out is, whether or not it's allowed to write a
>> plugin, using GPL,d libraries, for a program with MIT license, for
>> which there also exists plugins using OpenSSL (or anything
>> GPL-incompatible).
>
> If you want a simply answer, the answer is: "No (insert disclaimers
> here)" as others have pointed out.
As someone said, writing is always allowed, it's distribution that's
restricted. There have been some indications that a source
distribution is allowed, even if a binary distribution is not. Could
someone clarify?
> The rest of the discussion is only appropriate if you want to understand
> why that is. But it has to do with intent, sneaky ways one might try to
> get around the GPL, how provable your position is in court, and (perhaps
> most importantly) how deep your pockets are.
I use plugins for purely technical reasons. If, as a side effect,
otherwise incompatible libraries can be used, it's all the better for
the users of the program.
I don't generally trust courts, so I'd rather not end up there.
> GPL works' authors don't generally care specifically about OpenSSL
> either. But they *don't* want advertisements to accompany their code,
> or any derived work.
>
> So when you get a derived work that contains both of these restrictions,
> it ought to be quite clear that there's no way to meet it. Since you
> can't, you can't distribute.
Once again, we end up at the words "derived work". Where should I
look for precise definitions this term? For the record, I am doing
this work in Sweden and Norway, in case it makes a difference.
--
Måns Rullgård
mru@kth.se
Reply to:
- References:
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Walter Landry <wlandry@ucsd.edu>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Andrew Suffield <asuffield@debian.org>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Arnoud Engelfriet <galactus@stack.nl>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Don Armstrong <don@donarmstrong.com>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Don Armstrong <don@donarmstrong.com>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Joel Baker <fenton@debian.org>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Steve Langasek <vorlon@netexpress.net>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Jeremy Hankins <nowan@nowan.org>
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: mru@kth.se (Måns Rullgård)
- Re: Plugins, libraries, licenses and Debian
- From: Jeremy Hankins <nowan@nowan.org>