Re: [htdig-dev] Licensing issues...

[Neal R. <ne...@ri...>]

> Here's my set of questions:
>
> 2) Can I reasonably argue that htdig is gpl (or lgpl) if its linked
> against a 3 or a 4 cloause BSD license? - htdig .3.1.6 builds static
> libraries (.a) it links against.

  Sure you can!

  Note that although the Free Software Foundation may say that a 4-clause
BSD license is incompatible with the GPL (and they do)..... that opinion only
applies to code that the FSF holds the copyright for.

  As a matter of copyright law, any copyright holder that licenses their
code under the GPL is free to interpret the GPL themselves.  And if that
person/group decides that a 4-clause BSD license is OK to include in THEIR
code... then the FSF's opinion on license compatibility is irrelevant
legally.

  Note that I intend no disrespect for any FSF people on this list!  This
is just basic copyright law.  A third party can't dictate how a copyright
holder interprets any license to it's own code.

  Here's where it gets interesting:  Debian could, by the rights given to
you by HtDig's use of the GPL (for 3.1.x and earlier), decide independently
that a 4-clause BDB license isn't OK.... but again.. that doesn't affect
us (HtDig) ... it just makes your head hurt!

Hey FSF people:  Why don't you upgrade your version of HtDig on
fsf.org!!??

Thanks!

Neal Richter
Knowledgebase Developer
RightNow Technologies, Inc.
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