I think that if you look at other sections of the FAQ you will come to
the conclusion that while the new code of the frontend may only need to
be GPL-compatible, it could also as a derivative need to be GPL, and
either way the combined code must be GPL. So yes, the frontend must be
GPL or GPL-compatible, but in most cases it must be only GPL and not
simply compatible. How many SWORD frontend authors can correctly claim
that their code is not derivative?
Must be (GPL OR compatible) AND Must be (GPL) = GPL
Jerry
Greg Hellings wrote:
I was on this page - http://crosswire.org/wiki/Frontends:FeatureList -
earlier today and noticed the following line:
All frontends MUST be GPLv2 licensed. (This should be obvious. The
SWORD Project is GPLv2-licensed. All derivative works, such as
frontends and utilities, must be GPLv2 or they would be in violation
of CrossWire's copyright and the copyrights of 3rd parties whose code
has been incorporated into SWORD, e.g. the FSF.)
However, that is directly in contradiction to the words of the Free
Software Foundation's FAQ lines about this exact situation:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfLibraryIsGPL
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 or a
GPL-compatible license?
Yes, because the program as it is actually run includes the library.
This explicitly allows for distribution of other works under
compatible licenses, not only under the GPL. This is not restricted
by SWORD being only v2, the statement applies to all GPL versions, as
others have verified directly with the FSF. This particular FAQ was
updated because it had been causing issues with people misinterpreting
it to mean that only the GPL could be used for derivative works, as
our Wiki has been misled to state. This line on our Wiki should
either be updated, or just use a reference directly to the GNU/FSF FAQ
page.
--Greg
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