From: Charles W. <cwi...@us...> - 2008-05-15 22:46:16
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Doug Schaefer wrote: > Keith Marshall wrote: >> The GPL requires you to distribute full source, to allow an end user to >> rebuild your application from scratch. If part of that source resides >> in headers which you do not have the right to redistribute, how can you >> possibly comply with the GPL, without infringing the EULA of those >> headers? > > Actually with that argument, GPL would be restrict you from building > against any proprietary C run-time including Solaris, AIX, etc. So I'm > not sure this is actually restricted. But then I could be missing > something. At either rate, GPL apps do not redistribute all the headers > they use, of course. The question is, do the GDI+ libraries meet the requirements of the "system library" exception in the GPL. If it does, then I don't think it matters what EULA applies to the headers, as far as the GPL is concerned. (Sure, *we* can't redistribute the GDI+ headers, but neither are the gcc folks allowed to redistribute the /usr/include/sys/ headers for HP/UX) But IANAL. BTW, it looks like the GPLv3 relaxed the definition of "System Library" compared to GPLv2. According to the GPL FAQ: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WindowsRuntimeAndGPL ====================== I'm writing a Windows application with Microsoft Visual C++ (or Visual Basic) and I will be releasing it under the GPL. Is dynamically linking my program with the Visual C++ (or Visual Basic) run-time library permitted under the GPL? The GPL permits this because that run-time library normally accompanies the compiler or interpreter you are using. The run-time libraries here are “System Libraries” as GPLv3 defines them, and as such they are not considered part of the Corresponding Source. GPLv2 has a similar [ed: similar, but not identical] exception in section 3. ====================== I wonder if this impacts some of the recent discussions we've had concerning linking against the msvcrtXX.dll runtimes? Sure, you can't redistribute the dll itself, *yourself*, without a VisStudio license -- but you could, if I'm reading the faq above correctly, compile GPL apps against the msvcrtXX.dll, and instruct users to go get the redistXX package from MS themselves -- all without violating either the GPL or MS's eula. -- Chuck |