"Bjorn Reese" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
[EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> If the SynEdit component is "released as a series of files", then MPL
> is quite clear that a modification is a change to the content of a file
> covered by MPL, or copying of code from a file covered by MPL to another
> file. Inheritance modifies behaviour, not the contents of a file.
But your new file "does" contain parts of the Original Code. From MPL:
--------------------------------
B. Any new file that contains any part of the Original Code or
previous Modifications.
--------------------------------
GPL does actually a better job in addressing it:
-----------------------
"work based on the Library" means either the Library or any derivative work
under copyright law
----------------------
And inheritance falls directly under "any derivative work under copyright
law", at least IMHO.
I can be corrected by some of the MPL authors, but my understanding is that
the <intent> of the MPL was similar to GPL, i.e. to ensure that "any
derivative work under copyright law" should go back to the community (but
without the viral effect of GPL) . Unfortunately, they didn't spell it out
properly in MPL, thus creating a room for misinterpretation.
Frankly, what would be my incentive to release any OOP code under MPL, if
you could subclass anything from my source code and claim that this is your
original work, and as such you don't have to release it as a modification?
But are you really going to claim that anything that you subclass is your
original work under copyright laws?
Bjorn, if you do, then we will have to agree to disagree on MPL intent, and
a fair use of MPL-covered code.
Michael
