* Joerg Schilling ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) [09.07.08 11:57]: > Well this is because you did oversee important facts in the GPL as many > people > do who claim to have read the GPL. > > As I did already explain the legal facts for using the program "the schily > makefile system" (you should read it to reduce your confusion), let me > explain > why the GPL does not require "the build scripts" to be under GPL: > > If you _carefully_ read the GPL (lawyers do it, I did it but Debian doesn't), > you will find the following important fact: > > The GPL uses the phrase "under the terms of this License" in all places > except > the place where it requires "the scripts used to control compilation" to be > made available. >
" The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable." You refer to that clause? This clause defines what source code is under some conditions. It states that Makefiles *are* source code, if you do a *binary* distribution. Therefor they have to be under GPL, if you do a binary distribution. As for Gentoo there is no limitation, because it is a source distribution. > It is obvious that this has been done intentionally. If you did understand > the > general intention of the GPL you would know that requiring these "scripts" to > be under GPL would not be aligned with the basic idea of the GPL: "you need > to > put everything under GPL that is a derived work of GPLd software". These > scripts are obviously _not_ derived from the program. This is why they need > to > be available but not under GPL. > And it is quite obvious, that is meant the way I see it, because the binary is a derrived work, and in this special case some important parts of the process to get this derived work, must also be free. Sebastian -- " Religion ist das Opium des Volkes. " Karl Marx [EMAIL PROTECTED]@N GÜNTHER mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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