Re: LYNX-DEV GNU licence help

[David Combs]

Suppose you have this huge application, and you need a regexp package,
and so you grab gnu's and have it called from within your huge application.

Does that mean that you have to copyLeft your entire package,
offering all your sources to anyone who wants them, eg competitors?

If so, then how's this for a solution?  A script for the USER
to run during INSTALLATION, that grabs that gnu-code off the net
if not already there, outputs a makefile, etc -- then tells the
USER to type "make".  That way it is the USER that is hooking-in
the gnu code -- and it is (presumably) for "personal" use, too.

Have him answer "yes" to "want to download the gnu stuff" before
you do it.

Could this be a legal approach that also keeps your proprietary
code private?


> From address@hidden Tue Dec  3 23:44:18 1996
> From: address@hidden (David Woolley)
> Subject: Re: LYNX-DEV GNU licence help
> 
> Robert Bonomi wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > 2) on 'source code' -- this is what is commonly referred to a s the GPL. 
> >    Complete applications, or if you pull _any_part_ of that application for 
> >    inclusion in a different product.  You are *required* to make your 
> > =entire= 
> >    application available under the GPL.  _Complete_ source code to anyone
> >    upon request.
> 
> It's actually more subtle than it seems.  I've been having
> correspondence with Richard Stallman about this recently, and basically
> the product has to involve at least link editing of the code (or,
> presumably modification of the actual source code).  In a Lynx context,
> this would mean that a software package that included and and invoked
> Lynx would be covered by the mere aggregation clause, as long as no code
> from Lynx where embedded in the source code of any other parts.
> 
> This means that you must identify that Lynx is covered by the GPL, and
> provide source on at handling costs only, but the GPL would not extend
> to other complete programs which were part of the whole package.
> I.e. the rule applies to programs, not to applications, which may be
> multiple programs.
> 
> I had assumed that the mere aggregation clause was meant to allow 
> inclusion in things like CD ROM "free"/shareware distributions, but
> according to the authorative source, it is actually much more liberal
> than that.
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