> You would then still be allowed to distribute the FriCAS sources under >> BSD with one (or several) source files under GPL. Since there is no >> linking in the source-only distribution, nothing in the GPL 3.0 license >> text says that a mere packaging of BSD and GPL files would automatically >> make the BSD files be licensed under GPL. IANAL, but I'm pretty sure >> that the FSF argues in the same way.
> If it is "mere aggregation", then why bother, we can put updated > version for example in the wiki. OTOH, if build system is > adjusted so that files get included into binary, then FSF > claims that GPL affects also sources (read their "success > story" about Objective C (needs gcc) and clisp (needs readline)). Sorry, but it's simple. Suppose, you have a software b under BSD and g under GPL. Then, *if you distribute* a binary version of "b linked with g", then you have to provide the source of b and g under GPL. That's what the GPL text says. That, of course, does not forbid you to further distribute b under BSD. Why should it? It just means that there is suddenly b under BSD and b under GPL, nothing more. The BSD license allows to do this. > Of course since we distribute sources, anybody wanting pure BSD > can remove GPL-ed parts as long as the rest does not depend on > them. But if we keep such part indpendent, then there is little > benefit compared to distributing package separately. OTOH > if other parts of FriCAS start depending on it, then GPL > affects all FriCAS sources. More or less, yes (at least for linked parts), but exactly as above. > Currently almost all files in FriCAS use BSD type licence. > Exceptions (for example configure or axiom.sty) > may be considerd inessential from licence point of view. > Putting into repository normal source file under different > licence means that we (and anybody caring about licence) would > have to track licence on file-by-file basis. If there is a > strong reason such tracking is doable, but IMO benefits > do not justify this. In my opinion, every file should come with a header that tells what the license of the file is, not just who wrote it. Ralf -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "FriCAS - computer algebra system" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/fricas-devel. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
