On Fri, Jun 11, 1999 at 00:22:37 -0500, Steve Greenland wrote:
> Really? If I write a GUI that uses dpkg *only* via
>
> 'system("dpkg --command arg");'
>
> that would be a derived work?
A similar discussion comes up on gnu.misc.discuss regularly regarding
linking against a GPLed library like readline (which essentially is just a
more sophisticated form of this type of interaction); there appears to be no
real concensus on this issue.
Suppose I wrote a proprietary program "gkpd" that's command-line compatible
with dpkg, and the GUI has a button that allows you to choose between "gkpd"
and "dpkg"; does that mean the GUI is still a derivative work?
RMS is said to regard it as derivative only if no non-GPLed alternative
implementation currently exist; I haven't read this from him directly
though.
Ray
--
PATRIOTISM A great British writer once said that if he had to choose
between betraying his country and betraying a friend he hoped he would
have the decency to betray his country.
- The Hipcrime Vocab by Chad C. Mulligan
