On Wed, Aug 07, 2002 at 08:53:18AM -0600, Joe Moore wrote: > [sent only to debian-legal. Comments are program-independant]
> Steve Langasek wrote: > > Users do not violate the GPL: the GPL does not govern use of a program. > > But it would be illegal for Debian to *ship* a version of FireBird > > that uses libreadline. > On further research, http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfLibraryIsGPL > seems to imply that linking a program to a GPL library (even for personal > use) means the program must be GPL. > This seems like a contradiction. I've noticed that the FSF's GPL FAQ does a rather embarrassing job of distinguishing between use and distribution/modification. Section 0 of the GPL says: Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). This clearly trumps anything that might be in the GPL FAQ. > > That is, if all you need are your private headers and stub library, > > that's fine -- as long as that's what FireBird uses by default when > > installed. If FireBird ships with a Depends: libreadlinex, then > > clearly we are linking against libreadline. > So would pseudocode like: > if ( lib = dl_load("libreadline") ) > //Use libreadline code > else > //Use internal stub > lib = dl_load("libreadline_stubs"); > be a way around this? Especially if the program only Suggests: libreadline? Even if I knew nothing else about the GPL, I would say the answer is "no" just by virtue of the fact that you're asking for a way to get around the restriction. By adding this code to the application, you as the distributor/modifier have had a hand in linking the GPL-incompatible app to the GPL library, and so your actions are under the purview of the GPL. Any action to link the app against a GPL lib must be taken entirely by the user. In context, you'll find that the FSF also has a FAQ entry about GPL plug-ins, where they give the same "no" for an answer. Steve Langasek postmodern programmer
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