Brian Mays <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > As it stands, the GPL does not define what comprises a work. It > establishes no boundaries. Therefore, Debian can claim that the > distribution (or at least the essential parts of it, without which the > distribution will not work) *is* our work.
You are right that the GPL does not define it, but the author does. "fileutils" is a complete work; it might have sub-works, but it itself is a single work, and must get the GPL with it. sub-works of fileutils might not need the GPL on every piece. So you're right that the rule is that the GPL must be shipped when you ship the complete work, and that it's not quite sensible to mean with every piece of the complete work. You're also right that the GPL does not say what constitutes a work. But the author who applies the GPL does; indeed, GNU software usually includes a "This file is part of FOO" in the source code to make this clear. Thomas
