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Re: XFree86 license difficulties



On Mon, 02 Feb 2004, paul cannon wrote:
> Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that the FSF's
> opinion on this is not universal. That is, it is not an irrational
> view that dynamically linking to a library is only _using_ that
> library, not creating a derived work from it.

Considering the fact that the FSF is one of the individuals who owns
the copyrights to many GPLed works and actually has the resources and
personnel to actively protect those copyrights, their opinion has a
great weight in this matter. [Not to mention the fact that the FSF
interprets the GPL on a daily basis, and is generally considered to
have the canonical interpretation.]

Obviously, you can differ from their opinion, but unless you're
willing to back up you're opinion with resources of your own, the
conservative tack is to give credence to the copyright holder's
interpretation.

Anything else (especially in matters where the outcome is unclear) is
asking for trouble.


Don Armstrong

-- 
"I was thinking seven figures," he said, "but I would have taken a
hundred grand. I'm not a greedy person." [All for a moldy bottle of
tropicana.]
 -- Sammi Hadzovic [in Andy Newman's 2003/02/14 NYT article.]
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/14/nyregion/14EYEB.html

http://www.donarmstrong.com
http://www.anylevel.com
http://rzlab.ucr.edu

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