Brian Thomas Sniffen writes: > Raul Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > On Tue, Jan 18, 2005 at 07:43:08PM -0500, Walter Landry wrote: > >> But none in Debian main. People seem to be missing the point, so I > >> will repeat: I am not saying that Eclipse is not distributable, just > >> that it can't go into main. > > > > That's easy to say. It's much harder to back up. > > > > The distinction between main and not-main is purely a DFSG issue. The GPL > > doesn't care about this distinction at all. > > Not true. The GPL prohibits distributing bundled copies of GPL'd and > GPL-incompatible works, if they are more tightly coupled than mere > aggregation. That is, the Debian OS is a work. It contains copies of > Kaffe and Eclipse. They are interdependent, more closely related > than, say, Eclipse and isync. Thus, they must both be distributed > under the terms of the GPL.
Why? As you say, the Debian OS is a work, and it is designed to coordinate between its various components in a more useful fashion than if the component works had been merely aggregated. If your interpretation of "mere aggregation" is correct, that means *all* of Debian must be GPL-compatible. But perhaps the GPL does not say what you claim. >From section 0: The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. >From section 2: In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License. As has been settled on this list, Eclipse is not a derivative of Kaffe and does not contain any copyright-protected portion of Kaffe. It is possible to claim that "Eclipse+Kaffe" is a work based on Kaffe, but by the same argument, "Debian" is a work based on Kaffe, and the rational interpretation is that both cases are mere aggregation. Michael Poole -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
