Sam, I aggree with you, and what your points represent how I thought up until last week. I have been looking into into this issue and have some more Information to bring into this discussion.
I hope that this is not too boring for the InLine list, but Inline users are affected by the cross-licening issues as well. > I think you're trying to ask if using > a GPL-licensed Perl module creates a derivative > work such that a user would be required use the > GPL also. Yes, that is the key question. This would also be an issue of usage via an XML file format interface and a STDIN/STDOUT file reader. > The answer is maybe, and it probably depends on the > specifics. I brought this up specifically for linking to the gcc on the gcc mailling list, and with stallman and torvalds, on perlmonks and on gnu.misc.discuss. The answer is not of linkage but of derived works and usage. If you use all these tools to create a closed source front end and api to cvs and start selling it, or even as a closed source web service for example, then you might be violating the GPL. It also depends on if anyone would bother you about it. In the case of linking to the gcc it seems that they would take a gcc web-service using Inline::C and Soap very seriously.... > For example, you can > probably get away with loading the module > dynamically. You can almost certainly get away with > calling it through SOAP, RPC or Corba. Stallman said that exchange of complex data structures over the net can also be seen as *one* program talking to itself. At least for an interface to the GCC itself. The usage of all the internal data of a open-source package could be seen as a "derived work" and then be forced to be GPLed. I aggree with your examples, and think the same way. The GCC users dont all seem to aggree. Lets take an example : Look and a function like the GPLed c++ symbol "demangle" from the libiberty library. If you were to re-publish this function via inline::c and create a web service, or even allow other c-programs to link to it via a perl inline routine, then the GPL is no longer protecting the function from linkage to "non free" source. IMHO is that any user that would create a closed source tool would get in some form of trouble. Mike ===== James Michael DuPont __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/
