help-octave
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Loading of Matlab 5 Files


From: John W. Eaton
Subject: Re: Loading of Matlab 5 Files
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 01:39:13 -0500

On 17-Oct-1997, Andy Adler <address@hidden> wrote:

| To follow up my own post, I found a description of
| how to do this at
|  http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/v4/8757.html
| 
| Basically, it's a library with appropriate functions to
| manipulate .mat files. You get the *.h and *.so files
| for your architecture at
|  ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/tech-support/library/extern/lib/YOUR_ARCH

  ...

| I don't know if this is a tolerable solution for octave though.

It's not, because the libraries from the MathWorks are apparently not
free software.

| Can mathworks libraries be included along with GPL source?

You have to be precise about exactly what you mean by `included along
with'.  If you mean, ``can proprietary libraries be linked with code
that is distributed under the terms of the GPL?'' then the answer is
no, because linking them together creates a derivative work, and to do
that, the GPL says that you must be able to distribute the result
under the terms of the GPL.  You can only do that if the distribution
terms for all the code is compatible with the GPL.  For this case, it
would mean that you would need to be able to get source for the
MathWorks' libraries and have the right to freely redistribute
modified versions.

| Or can the source contain the hooks and have a message for the
| user to ftp the libraries him/herself?

No.  You can't avoid the terms of the GPL simply by having the user
perform the linking step.

jwe



reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]