as for Calc and the math library

[Christopher Dimech]

> Sent: Monday, August 19, 2024 at 4:38 AM
> From: "Richard Stallman" <rms@gnu.org>
> To: "arthur miller" <arthur.miller@live.com>
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: as for Calc and the math library
>
> [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
> [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
>
>   > >No.  What we need is the declaration _by_the_library_ being loaded
>   > >that it complies.  It is not an agreement between Emacs and the
>   > >library, it's a _requirement_ on our part that only the library itself
>   > >can fulfill.
>
>   > I have seen your previous answers to others, and I do understand
>   > the point you make, but I think the argument fails because a
>   > module can be just a proxy to a non-free library. If I can put it
>   > in other words, I wonder if it is a "false sense of security",
>   > because it is a guarantee by the person who writes the C module,
>   > not the 3rd party library they link to. Of course they are
>   > violating the license if they link to a non-free library, but that
>   > we are agreeing about we can't prevent.
>
> You're right, and this is a possible problem, but it raises a real
> copyleft compliance issue only in a specific kind of occasion: when
> someone writes such an intermediary module that loads a nonfree
> library, _and distributes that intermediary module_ for such use.
>
> Just writing such an intermediary module and using it oneself does not
> raise a copyleft compliance issue, because GPLv3 says one can make any
> sort of modificatoin and use it privately -- even actually copying in
> nonfree code.  Where the copyleft requirement comes into pkay is for
> making a modified version and distributing it to others.
>
> So it could be good to keep an eye on the modules that people are
> releasing, to make sure they do not load in other nonfree code.
> If they do, the FSF should tell their distributors to stop.
>
> Given this situation, a spcial label as a flag for "this library is
> free" might be useful, We just have to remember taht such a flag label
> is not proof of anything.  Its presence is only a statement (which can
> be false) of intent that the module be entirely GPL3-compatible free
> code and that it link in only GPL3-compatible other modules.

Emacs could recommend and endorse specific libraries without judging or
comparing them based on any criterion other than freedom.  As is done
with the Free GNU/Linux Distributions.  Emacs itself could report a
flag when someone uses such libraries, rather than having the libraries
themselves report the information to the editor.  However GPL Compliance
would be too restrictive.  Knowing a library is free should be enough.
This way users would know what they are doing without harm.