Re: Matlab compiled mex files in octave

[Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso]

On 21 February 2013 02:54, Steven Levine <address@hidden> wrote:
> One cam do almost anything one wants with binaries built from GPL source
> code as long as the binaries are not distributed externally.

There is a common misunderstanding here. If you distribute GPL source
in such a way that the source is modified so that it's combined with
non-free software (e.g. if you distributed Octave's source code in a
way that it was meant to be used with, say, CUBLAS), this is also a
GPL violation.

It's not just binary without source, but also modified source that is
meant to go with non-free software. This is at least rms's
interpretation, which is the interpretation that holds the most weight
for the GNU project.

It is admittedly a stretch to say that Henry did this, especially
since his distributed source is so small (just a couple of functions),
so I'll relent on this point.

Regardless, this still doesn't solve the problem that we have some
non-free mex files out there that people would like to use.

- Jordi G. H.