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Re: cl-typesetting license



On Mon, Apr 11, 2005 at 07:50:36AM -0400, Anthony DeRobertis wrote:
> Ingo Ruhnke wrote:
> 
> >Sound free to me, since not the output of the library is required to
> >confirm to it, but the interface which generates the input for the
> >library. So to me it looks basically just like something like GPLs 2c
> >section applied to the web.
> 
> Not really. GPL 2(c) tells me what changes I may make to the software in 
> question. This tells me what changes I may/must make to other software.
> 

GPL 2(c) is the obnoxious banner clause that says that if you
take a random piece of non-interactive GPL code and incorporate
it in an interactive program, then that program must include a
startup banner telling the users that this is Free Software
under the GPL.

Similarly, cl-typesetting #5, says that if you incorporate
cl-typesetting in a larger program then that program (not its
output) must display a cl-typesetting banner in its primary
startup screen.

GPL 2(c) presumes a command-like program similar to
gdb/bash/emacs in its example text, cl-typesetting#5 presumes a
HTML-based user interface such as a cgi/php/jsp frontend.

So one must look very carefully to determine what places GPL
2(c) just within the DFSG (other than DFSG#10), and what causes
cl-typesetting #5 to be within or outside the DFSG.


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