Re: [Mspgcc-users] licence confusion

[Chris L. <cli...@gm...>]

no...@we... wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> in the sources of mspgcc there are files with LGPL, GPL (e. g. sprintf.c) and BSD license.
> As far as in know this means that (genenerally) all software done with mspgcc is under GPL
> and that's the reason why many companies refuse to use mspgcc.

that's just not true. read the license in the file again. it clearly 
says in the last paragraph:

"""
As a special exception, if you link this library with files
compiled with a GNU compiler to produce an executable, this does not 
cause the resulting executable to be covered by the GNU General Public 
License. This exception does not however invalidate any other reasons 
why the executable file might be covered by the GNU General Public 
License. """

> Would it be possible to throw out the files without LGPL and replace them by LGPL file and to
> assure that mspgcc is purely LGPL or a license with suits better for microcontroller software?

it would not hurt to have the same license for all files. but if you 
throw out a file you have to replace them with something else, and who 
writes that source?

one thing that could be considered tough, is the use of the avr libc. is 
more complete than ours and is licensed under a BSD like license:
http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/

chris