Re: The legality of cdrecord
On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 08:54:01PM +0000, John Halton wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 08:38:39PM +0100, Joerg Schilling wrote:
> > mkisofs is GPL but uses CDDL library code. This is intentionally
> > allowed by the GPL as the GPL is a highly asymmetric license. The
> > GPL forbids GPL code to appear inside non-GPL project, but it allows
> > non-GPL code to appear in GPL projects.
> > No non-GPL source is based on or derived from GPL code.
> I think the question is not whether there is an infringement of the
> GPL, but whether there is an infringement of the CDDL.
No, the question is whether there's an infringement of the GPL.
Joerg Schilling (the cdrecord upstream maintainer) has an idiosyncratic
interpretation of the GPL which doesn't coincide with the FSF's published
statements or Debian's position.
> If CDDL-licensed code is included in a GPL program, then this will
> breach the CDDL, which requires modifications to be licensed under the
> CDDL. But if the CDDL licence is used, then this will conflict with
> the GPL.
The CDDL-licensed code is not included in the GPL program; the CDDL only
applies to the build scripts. However, the GPL explicitly covers build
scripts as part of the source code that must be distributed under terms of
the GPL when one distributes binaries.
--
Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/
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