[jos-general] [GPL] Where?

[Gilbert C. H. II <gc...@mi...>]

I re-read the GPL. Some people seem to be reading into the GPL conditions
which are not there. It says specifically that it does not cover run-time
issues, such as dynamic linking. Therefore, an end-user cannot "violate the
GPL" by running a non-GPL'd application against a GPL'd shared library. You
can copy GPL'd code, run it, distribute it. You can only distribute GPL'd
modifications of GPL'd code.

Any violation of the GPL is found at compile-time. In a C/C++ context,
header files are plain-text source code, and are used to describe the
interface to a subsystem or shared library. If you compile against GPL'd
header files, your source code must be GPL'd. If you compile against
non-GPL'd header files, your license is your choice. The restriction seems
to be that you cannot compile your non-GPL'd code against it.

If you comply with the GPL, it is viral in nature. Other programs which are
compiled against your header files, which are now GPL'd, must be GPL'd,
too. And so on.

Interpretations of the GPL, even by its original author, are not legally
binding. Neither is the "preamble" legally binding. Only the text of the
GPL is legally binding.