Re: cdrtools - GPL code with CDDL build system

[Måns Rullgård <mru@inprovide.com>]

Don Armstrong <don@debian.org> writes:

> On Sun, 19 Mar 2006, Måns Rullgård wrote:
>> A work can't be derived from another work without including some
>> piece of it
>
> This is actually not the case; including output of a work (or
> generated by a work) in another work can make that work a derivative
> work of the first work.

That could only possibly make the executable a derivative of the
compiler.  The makefile doesn't output anything in its own right.  It
does cause make to print a few lines to the console when it is run,
but those messages are not included in the executable.  Lot's of
(mainly single-file) programs don't come with a makefile at all, only
a README file telling you to compile the C file and naming the
libraries it needs.  Is the compiled program a derivative of this
README file?

>> Is a printed book a derivative work of the manual for the printing
>> press?
>
> This is the wrong analogy. The right analogy is: Is a printed book a
> derivative work of the typeface used in the printing press?

I guess next you'll be saying that the compiled program is a
derivative of the font the author used when he wrote the makefile.

-- 
Måns Rullgård
mru@inprovide.com