> The only mention of the word "link" in the GPLv3 terms and conditions, > outside an example, is in the phrase "link or combine" in section 13: > > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html > > GPLv2 doesn't use it at all in the terms and conditions: > > http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html > > Linking has no special status in the GPL -- it's just a question of > what legally constitutes a derivative work. If a C program that > dynamically links to a library is legally a derivative work of that > library, a PHP program that dynamically calls functions from another > PHP program is almost surely a derivative work too. The decision > would be made by a judge, who wouldn't have the faintest idea of the > technical details and therefore would only care about the general > effect. >
See the gnu faq on this: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#LinkingWithGPL If you link, you must use a GPL compatible license. >> Not all MediaWiki extensions are GPL, for instance. > > This has been discussed before: > > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikitech-l/2010-July/048436.html > > The opinion of the lawyers employed by the FSF and SFLC implies that > all typical MediaWiki extensions and skins must be licensed > GPL-compatibly. The SFLC did a detailed analysis of Wordpress > plugins, and concluded they all had to be GPL for reasons that apply > identically to MediaWiki: > > http://wordpress.org/news/2009/07/themes-are-gpl-too/ > MediaWiki extensions aren't necessarily a derivative work. I'd argue that they fall within the "borderline case" described in the faq: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins No need to go through this again though, the thread you linked to already showed that it isn't conclusive either way. > There is no interpretation of the GPL that I'm aware of that would say > linking is not allowed, but calling a Python library function is > allowed. Either both create a derivative work, or neither does. > See my first link to the gnu faq. It isn't that linking isn't allowed, it's that code that directly links to it would need to be licensed in a compatible way. If I link to the library with a python wsgi shim, the shim itself needs to be GPL, but applications accessing the http wsgi interface would not need to be. - Ryan _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
