On Sunday 22 May 2005 2:56 pm, punx120 wrote: > Neil Williams wrote: > >>And i don't think the developers will give me their code to package it.
Then you should not use this library with free software, certainly not with the GPL. > > So what licence are you using for your program? > > Since it's my first "big" program, I'm not used with license, but i use > GPL v2. You mean link a GPL program against a library that is non-free?!?!?! "Can I write free software that uses non-free libraries? Your program won't be fully usable in a free environment. If your program depends on a non-free library to do a certain job, it cannot do that job in the Free World. If it depends on a non-free library to run at all, it cannot be part of a free operating system such as GNU; it is entirely off limits to the Free World." http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#FSWithNFLibs The GPL does NOT permit you to link a GPL program with a non-free library - one that doesn't permit the distribution of it's source code under the terms of the GPL - which includes for commercial use. Your library doesn't allow commercial use, so it cannot be used by a GPL program. Find another licence or create the library from scratch. "I'd like to modify GPL-covered programs and link them with the portability libraries from Money Guzzler Inc. I cannot distribute the source code for these libraries, so any user who wanted to change these versions would have to obtained those libraries separately. Why doesn't the GPL permit this? If we permitted company A to make a proprietary file, and company B to distribute GPL-covered software linked with that file, the effect would be to make a hole in the GPL big enough to drive a truck through. This would be carte blanche for withholding the source code for all sorts of modifications and extensions to GPL-covered software. Giving all users access to the source code is one of our main goals, so this consequence is definitely something we want to avoid." http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MoneyGuzzlerInc Combining two modules means connecting them together so that they form a single larger program. If either part is covered by the GPL, the whole combination must also be released under the GPL--if you can't, or won't, do that, you may not combine them. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation "If a library is released under the GPL (not the LGPL), does that mean that any program which uses it has to be under the GPL? Yes, because the program as it is actually run includes the library. " http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfLibraryIsGPL > Actually, if I want to package this program and this library, it's > essentially to know more about licencing! Read the GNU GPL FAQ and read the licence for this library VERY carefully. You might be able to use another licence but I cannot see that you can use the GPL with the library restricted as you've described. You will probably be restricted to a non-free licence. > >>So maybe, I could do all the necessary things manually,is it a good idea > >>according to you ? > > > > Personally, I don't like anything in non-free and I certainly refuse to > > depend on such packages. I'd rather re-write the library from scratch. > > Hey ho. > > I agree with you about non-free stuff, but at the time I wrote the > program, i need a library like fmod, fmod suited me, so I used it ! Please understand your situation before releasing this - you have contaminated the program with this library and either you replace that library in it's entirety, or you use a different licence. As it is, this is a non-free product, despite your claim to licence it under the GPL - it is not free and not fully GPL compatible. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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