2009/3/18 Rory Browne <[email protected]> > > > 2009/3/17 John Gill <[email protected]> > >> On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 3:49 PM, Kevin Noonan <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> GPL goes a step farther than LGPL. It's "viral": any code even linked >>> to GPL code is coerced into a GPL license. >> >> >> Just to clarify this. >> >> If you have GPL code and you use a non-GPL library with it that is fine. >> >> > > Eh? I don't think so. I remember that otherwise GPL programs that used the > QT library had to have an exception clause, > stating that they could be linked with the QT library. That's essentially > the situation you're describing here. So it's find if > you own the copyright, or can convince the copyright holder to provide such > a clause. >
But that is NOT the case I am talking about here. QT is a library and was licensed under the GPL (actually dual licensed -- your exception clause, you could pay for a less restrictive license). The case I am talking about here is linking non-GPL code with GPL code. In that case the key paragraph in the GPL license is this one: These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it. Now in the case of a program that uses QT this para does not apply, so the whole ends up licensed GPL. Happily, Nokia recently changed the license on QT to LGPL. John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Python Ireland" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.ie/group/pythonireland?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
