Hi,
I don't want to reheat a dead thread. But I saw some confusion about this,
and I think it is important enough to clean it up.
First, the easy thing [skip this paragraph if you could care less about
Debian policies]. Debian has set itself a policy to seperate entirely
free software packages (`main') from free software packages which need a
non-free component to run (`contrib', arguable a bad name) and non-free
software packages (`non-free'). Only the first group is a proper part of the
Debian distribution, although the other components are available on the ftp
archive. What is meant with free here is defined by the Debian Free Software
Guidelines (later incorporated into the Open Source Definition). You can
look this up at the Debian web page, but it's clear that the epin BIOS is
not free using that definition, so it could never be in main or contrib of
Debian. So the option were to include all of plex86 in non-free, or seperate
plex86 from the BIOS and put the former in contrib and the latter in
non-free, making plex86 depending on the BIOS package. With a BIOS under
GPL, we can put plex86 and the free BIOS in main, and if we want the epin
BIOS in non-free, and people who want to use that can do so and everyone is
merry happy.
Now, the second issue, mixing LGPL code with GPL. Now, I am not a lawyer,
but I have some experience with these licenses. Although I am sure
that this mixing is possible, it is not trivial to figure out under which
conditions the result can be distributed. There is certainly the possibility
to just convert the LGPL into the GPL (see section 3 of the LGPL). For
example, Debian can do this in the Debian package. The result will be a
derived, GPL'ed work. This is the safe option.
People who want to not do this, but want to keep plex86 LGPLed might be able
to use the GPLed BIOS anyway, or they might opt to use a different BIOS
which isn't as restrictive as the GPL. Or you might consider the BIOS
as something that makes use of plex86 (legally), and then it might be
okay to keep them as they are and still be able to distribute it as
a "work that uses the library". But here are technical barriers (the
LGPL explicitely mentions compiling and linking). You might want to
check the details with Richard Stallman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), who has lawyers
assisting him on GPL issues.
As I said, for Debian the GPL is sufficient. But because shipping the GPLed
BIOS together with plex86 might defeat the purpose of the LGPL[1], and convert
it to the GPL for all practical reasons, you might better check this with
RMS, just so that everyone is clear about the situation.
To make this last thing clear, by no means I want to discourage you from
using the GPL'ed BIOS, and I am happy to see a possibility to have plex86 in
Debian main proper (read: a free software not depending on non-free
components).
Thanks,
Marcus
[1] I don't know if it does or doesn't, only a very careful reading of the
LGPL can reveal this.
--
`Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' Debian http://www.debian.org [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Marcus Brinkmann GNU http://www.gnu.org [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.marcus-brinkmann.de
