Re: FRR package in Debian violates the GPL licence
On Wed, 20 Mar 2019, David Given wrote:
- I *can* take your GPL code and turn it into a GPL library. That's what
the GPL is for. I don't even need to ask you about it.
Agreed.
- I *can* use this library in BSD code, and distribute both together
as an aggregate under the terms of the GPL --- because the BSD
license conditions are met by the GPL, so by distributing the whole
under the terms of the GPL I meet both sets of licensing terms, and
so everything is fine.
If by "use this library in BSD code" you mean modify and/or extend the
BSD code so it relied on the facilities of the GPL code, then you can
distribute my code under the GPL correct.
Those modified and extended portions are subject to the GPL, and can
only be distributed under the GPL - they can not be distributed under
the BSD licence (if that were possible, it would also be possible to
distribute it under proprietary licences).
- I *can't* use this library in closed source code, and distribute the
result as an aggregate --- because there is no license which can meet the
terms of the GPL *and* my closed source license.
Agreed.
- I *can* use this this library in closed source code, and distribute the
library and the closed source code *seperately* --- because they're not
being distributed together it's not an aggregation, and both sets of
licensing terms are being met independently.
Disagree.
Why would separate distribution affect derived work status? Nothing in
what I've heard from solicitors suggests that derived work status hinges
on whether the derived work has been distributed with the work it
derives from or not. ???
- I *can't *modify your library, and distribute the modified version as
BSD, because the modifications are derived work, and therefore the result
is only distributable under the terms of the GPL.
Indeed. This is the same case as "use this library in BSD code", for me.
I see no way you can "use" a library without having adapted the code in
some way to introduce that "use", and those modifications are deriving
of the library.
regards,
--
Paul Jakma | paul@jakma.org | @pjakma | Key ID: 0xD86BF79464A2FF6A
Fortune:
E Pluribus Unix
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