Re: What makes software copyrightable anyway?
On 5/12/05, Humberto Massa <humberto.massa@almg.gov.br> wrote:
> Suppose the libc runtime is given in some system by a work named
> gpld_libc. Is hello_world.c a derivative work of gpld_libc ? I don't
> think so.
>
> #include <stdio.h>
> int main(int, char**) {
> puts("Hi"); return 0;
> }
>
> What is a dynamically compiled file hello_world? An intangible medium
> containing: my hello_world.c work, translated automatically + (possibly)
> some (non-protectable by virtue of defining an interface) bits grinded
> by the compiler/linker, extracted from gpld_libc (eg, compiler macros,
> etc). Can I distribute it under any license I see fit? Yes, I think so.
That depends on what went into the binary.
For example, if hello_world now provides fourth order
Runga-Kutta solutions, I'd probably need to know whether the
code which provides this functionality is licensed such that I can
redistribute it.
If hello_world does nothing more than print a string, this
might not be a big issue. Or it might be. For example,
if "print a string" requires a full copy of some proprietary
firmware because the compiler target was an emulator
for some proprietary hardware.
I"ll avoid presenting any GPL examples, since that
seems overly contentious.
--
Raul
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