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Why not provide a way for users to download the library separately and execute it as a binary blob? That way, if there's a license violation, it is the responsi

Why not provide a way for users to download the library separately and execute it as a binary blob? That way, if there's a license violation, it is the responsibility of the user. Kind of like libdvdcss and Handbrake? On the other hand, it seems odd to me that the kind of person who would be hung up by licenses is interested in using free software. Why not just buy AutoCad at this point? I guess that's sort of the FSF's biggest mistake. They act like there are no alternatives. Though they seem to understand that with LGPL: This is why we used the Lesser GPL for the GNU C library. After all, there are plenty of other C libraries; using the GPL for ours would have driven proprietary software developers to use another—no problem for them, only for us.

fluidcruft 14y ago
Your answers are found in the saga of the readline wars (where every imaginable method to run around the GPL and make it meaningless has been tried). Broadly speaking the rule of thumb is that if something makes use of internal knowledge of GPL code implementation or function (i.e. unique data structures/objects/functions that are not considered "standard"), it's considered a derivative work (this is also how the Linux kernel approaches GPL vs non-GPL drivers, too). If all it were to take was to adapt and repackage a GPL project as a dynamically loaded library, the GPL would be meaningless. In my mind, the really hairy area is where certain projects seem to be allowed to define "public" APIs that surrender GPL protection and allow use of closed binary libraries (i.e. the Linux kernel's public driver interface or Octave's MEX interface). Or what happens when the BSD folks just copy your API and re-implement everything (undermining the uniqueness of the GPL software's internals)? Don't bring this up to the FSF though, they suddenly switch from being eloquent to pretending to be dense.
- tomjen3 14y ago
  What I never really understood was why nobody ever cloned readline? Clisp was open sourced because they used readline, but they already had a completely working common lisp system with everything -- how hard can it be to write a readline library?
  - fluidcruft 14y ago
    NetBSD created a readline compatible library called editline. http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/lib/libedit/?sortby=date#dirlist http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/lib/libedit/?sortby=... The BSD crowd has been slowly chipping away at replacing all the GNU stuff they expediently adopted following the AT&T lawsuit.

fluidcruft 14y ago

Your answers are found in the saga of the readline wars (where every imaginable method to run around the GPL and make it meaningless has been tried). Broadly speaking the rule of thumb is that if something makes use of internal knowledge of GPL code implementation or function (i.e. unique data structures/objects/functions that are not considered "standard"), it's considered a derivative work (this is also how the Linux kernel approaches GPL vs non-GPL drivers, too). If all it were to take was to adapt and repackage a GPL project as a dynamically loaded library, the GPL would be meaningless. In my mind, the really hairy area is where certain projects seem to be allowed to define "public" APIs that surrender GPL protection and allow use of closed binary libraries (i.e. the Linux kernel's public driver interface or Octave's MEX interface). Or what happens when the BSD folks just copy your API and re-implement everything (undermining the uniqueness of the GPL software's internals)? Don't bring this up to the FSF though, they suddenly switch from being eloquent to pretending to be dense.

tomjen3 14y ago
What I never really understood was why nobody ever cloned readline? Clisp was open sourced because they used readline, but they already had a completely working common lisp system with everything -- how hard can it be to write a readline library?
- fluidcruft 14y ago
  NetBSD created a readline compatible library called editline. http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/lib/libedit/?sortby=date#dirlist http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/lib/libedit/?sortby=... The BSD crowd has been slowly chipping away at replacing all the GNU stuff they expediently adopted following the AT&T lawsuit.