From: Jeroen Dekkers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> On Sat, Dec 08, 2001 at 04:50:42PM -0800, User1 wrote:
> > The GPL does not prohibit reverse engineering of the GPL'd source code
> > ("Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
> > covered by this License; they are outside its scope."). One can thus read
> > the DOSEMU source code and take notes about how it works, and have LGPL code
> > based on the notes. I think Kevin did that; certain BOCHS' device drivers
> > resemble DOSEMU in both organization and the names of variables.
>
> This is not called reverse engineering. Reverse engineering is reading
> the disassembled code of a non-free program. With free software we don't
> need reverser engineering, we can just read the source. This is one part
> of free software, being able to study how something works.
The GPL/LGPL/<insert-open-license-here> is all very muddy to me--but being an
engineer, I'll have to take exception to the above comment. Reverse engineering is
not disassembling the code (which is illegal in most commercial licenses). Rather it
is analyzing the outputs based on known inputs and coming up with an independent
implementation that provides the same results. This assumes you have never looked at
the original code.
As you mentioned, there is no need to reverse engineer open software. Instead, one
could provide an alternate implementation.
--
--
Daniel
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(remove the Z-'s to reply--they're what I do when I read spam)
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