On Thu, 12 Feb 2004, Kenneth J. Davis wrote: > The 'major components' do not have to be provided _with_ the > OS, they must be _of_ the OS. Thus one can use any compiler, > linker, or whatever is deemed a major component of the OS.
true. > So the even funnier part is about statically linked runtimes; > most people simply choose to ignore their existance otherwise > you have a serious problem -- no GPL'd [again assuming the > stock GPL license without such an exception] program can > legally be released if built with a compiler's (C/Pascal/VB/...) > normally included libraries including startup code unless > one has the right to pass the source of these libraries on > to others in terms compatible with the GPL. not true. I think the problem with the DLL you wanted to distribute is that the DLL itself was deemed a "major component". If the above is true then the GNUish project could never have existed, yet all programs in there are copyright FSF. This issue came up in '93 when somebody wanted to release a version of GNU Emacs for MS-Windows and MSDOS. DJGPP could not be used at the time since it was not yet compatible with Windows (3.x). Please refer to: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=C5E4yp.9C2%40srgenprp.sr.hp.com and the surrounding discussion. I don't see much difference between a DOS extender stub and a decompressor stub. Both wrap around "main()" and do something before calling it. In both cases the program (source code, not the specific binary) itself does not depend on the stub. Except that the dos extender came with the compiler but the decompressor stub not. How is this different from a .rar file? Very much so. The GPL does not care about what the stub exactly does. The fact that matters is that it is a) linked in and b) impossible to run the executable without the stub (dependency!) With a .rar file somebody can repack it as .zip and the .exe will still be the same. With APACK it is impossible to remove the stub. All in all, a *very hairy* subject. Best avoided by just not using an exepacker or staying with a GPL exepacker. If UPX can't compress himem.exe or emm386.exe then it can be changed to do so! Bart ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net is sponsored by: Speed Start Your Linux Apps Now. Build and deploy apps & Web services for Linux with a free DVD software kit from IBM. Click Now! http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1356&alloc_id=3438&op=click _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
