On Sat, Apr 16, 2005 at 03:09:18PM +0000, Brian M. Carlson wrote: > On Sat, 2005-04-16 at 16:32 +0200, Jakob Bohm wrote: > > On Mon, Apr 11, 2005 at 07:50:36AM -0400, Anthony DeRobertis wrote: > > > Ingo Ruhnke wrote: > > > > > > >Sound free to me, since not the output of the library is required to > > > >confirm to it, but the interface which generates the input for the > > > >library. So to me it looks basically just like something like GPLs 2c > > > >section applied to the web. > > > > > > Not really. GPL 2(c) tells me what changes I may make to the software in > > > question. This tells me what changes I may/must make to other software. > > > > > > > GPL 2(c) is the obnoxious banner clause that says that if you > > take a random piece of non-interactive GPL code and incorporate > > it in an interactive program, then that program must include a > > startup banner telling the users that this is Free Software > > under the GPL. > > Right, and this is relevant if and only if: > > 1) the original GPL work printed such an announcement; and > 2) the relevant work is a derivative work of both GPL'd code and code > that prints such a notice.
Strange, given the careful use of "the Program" versus "program" in the text of the GPL, I read 2(c) as kicking in if: 1) the original GPL work printed such an announcement and the new program is in almost any way interactive; or 2) the original GPL work is not interactive (like GNU tar), and the new program is in almost any way interactive. > > > Similarly, cl-typesetting #5, says that if you incorporate > > cl-typesetting in a larger program then that program (not its > > output) must display a cl-typesetting banner in its primary > > startup screen. > > Ah, but this is not a derivative work of cl-typesetting. cl-typesetting > (I am assuming) merely processes some marked-up data. I see it as being (by some stretch) linking in cl-typesetting as kind of a library. > > > GPL 2(c) presumes a command-like program similar to > > gdb/bash/emacs in its example text, cl-typesetting#5 presumes a > > HTML-based user interface such as a cgi/php/jsp frontend. > > Yes, but the HTML-based interface is a derivative work not of > cl-typesetting, but of the input. The GPL'd program we are discussing is > a derivative work of only the works which make up the executable. cl-t > #5 would contaminate other software, specifically the input to the > typesetter. Look again, it is not referring to the HTML-pages generated by cl-typesetting, it is referring to HTML pages that form a cgi/php/jsp/asp/... interface for invoking cl-typesetting remotely. The actual typeset documents are not contaminated. > > > So one must look very carefully to determine what places GPL > > 2(c) just within the DFSG (other than DFSG#10), and what causes > > cl-typesetting #5 to be within or outside the DFSG. > > You are comparing apples to oranges... If cl-typesetting #5 referred to the generated documents I would agree with you, but I read it as not doing that. It is not an orange, it is a yellow apple. > > As an analogy, I would like to point out that I am writing free > documentation (how it is licensed is not really relevant) with troff > markup. Does my documentation then become a derivative work of groff? > I hope not. Otherwise, once sarge releases, all the BSD manpages with > advertising clauses would become undistributable. My analogy would be: xman is a front end for troff/groff, is xman itself a derivative of groff? Should xman display a GPL 2(c) notice when invoked with no arguments to display its menu? > > That said, I would like to point out that GPL 2(c) is not a favorite of > many people on this list. It is my belief, however, that any > interpretation of the DFSG (ignoring section 10) which would make the > licenses in DFSG 10 non-free is an incorrect one. > Agreed on both points. -- This message is hastily written, please ignore any unpleasant wordings, do not consider it a binding commitment, even if its phrasing may indicate so. Its contents may be deliberately or accidentally untrue. Trademarks and other things belong to their owners, if any. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
