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[Gcl-devel] Re: GCL compliance with GNU GPL


From: Camm Maguire
Subject: [Gcl-devel] Re: GCL compliance with GNU GPL
Date: 30 Jun 2003 17:57:09 -0400
User-agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.2

Hi Sam!  Thanks for your attention to these matters.  

Readline is a compile time gcl option.  I do agree that linking it in
changes the license.  It does seem that a note in the COPYING file to
this effect might be the most appropriate -- i.e. if you compile with
readline, the product is GPL.  This gives users the opportunity to
compile an lgpl version without readline should they desire. 

Personally, I'd be just as happy having the whole product be GPL, but
I understand there are some users of GCL who want to build non-GPL
enduser images.

Take care,

Sam Steingold <address@hidden> writes:

> According to <http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gcl>,
> GCL (GNU Common Lisp) <http://www.gnu.org/software/gcl/>
> is covered by the GNU Lesser General Public License.
> 
> OTOH, GCL uses GNU readline for input, see e.g.,
> <http://article.gmane.org/gmane.lisp.gcl.devel/1672>.
> 
> GNU readline is covered by the GNU GPL, not GNU LGPL, therefore any
> program that links with it must also be covered by the GNU GPL, see
> <http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/clisp/clisp/doc/Why-CLISP-is-under-GPL?rev=HEAD>.
> 
> Therefore GCL is in violation of the GNU GPL license.
> 
> I tried to bring this issue to the GCL's maintainers' attention in
> <http://article.gmane.org/gmane.lisp.gcl.devel/1622>, but to no avail.
> 
> Moreover, I was surprised to find out that GCL's license has been
> "verified" (http://www.gnu.org/directory/GCL.html).
> I wonder what the process of verification is.
> 
> It is conceivable that GCL has been granted a special dispensation to
> use GNU readline and still be covered by LGPL, but this issue is not
> clarified on the GCL web page.
> 
> -- 
> Sam Steingold (http://www.podval.org/~sds) running w2k
> <http://www.camera.org> <http://www.iris.org.il> <http://www.memri.org/>
> <http://www.mideasttruth.com/> <http://www.palestine-central.com/links.html>
> Time would have been the best Teacher, if it did not kill all its students.
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Camm Maguire                                            address@hidden
==========================================================================
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."  --  Baha'u'llah




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