[snip] > Basic) and I will be releasing it under the GPL. Is dynamically > linking my program with the Visual C++ (or Visual Basic) run-time > library permitted under the GPL?
Forgive me, if I am responding to the wrong question. The thread to this discussion is a little hard to follow. The answer is yes, if the question is strictly analyzed as a copyright question involving copyright law in the U.S. It is important to remember that whether dynamic linking to a shared library somehow creates a derivative work is a question of copyright law, not the interpretation of a software license. Since the GPL does not reach modifications that do not constitute derivate works (recall that the GPL is supposed to be a copyright license, not a contract), the Copyright Act applies in the first instance. In that regard, section 117(a)(1) may apply; that section ostensibly would permit an end-user, the lawful owner of a COPY of the copyright-protected program, to run an open source program that calls a run-time distributed by OS developer like Microsoft. Even if an open source program made a highly unpredictable call to a shared library during run-time and one could persuasively argue that in that instance the dynamic linking, itself, created a modified work, section 117(a)(1) would seem to render the "adaptation" permissible as a matter of Copyright law. - Rod Rod Dixon, J.D., LL.M. [EMAIL PROTECTED] opensource.cyberspaces.org DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: This e-mail communication constitutes a written document that may be subject to whatever; it was not created during the course of an attorney client relationship. The content is offered as information only, not legal advice. -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
