Daniel Stenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Yes
>
> If the big bad company wants to use wget and modify it for their own purposes
> without giving the source code back, the recently added exception to the GPL
> gives them every means:
>
> - Just make your extension a library and name it OpenSSL.
> - Or just extend the existing OpenSSL library to do whatever things you
> want.
I don't think either of these works. The exception clearly says:
In addition, as a special exception, the Free Software Foundation
gives permission to link the code of its release of Wget with the
OpenSSL project's "OpenSSL" library
So if you name a random library "OpenSSL", it's no longer "OpenSSL
project's 'OpenSSL' library".
This could be a problem:
(or with modified versions of it that use the same license as the
"OpenSSL" library),
I don't know what the OpenSSL license is, but it might well bind you
to distribute the source to that as well.
Other GNU programs have used similar exceptions in the past. I find
it unlikely that they would have contained such an obvious flaw. But
then again, some flaws become obvious only *after* someone first spots
them.
Thanks for the warning.
