Re: GUI in Octave

[Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso]

On 15 July 2013 14:26, Francesco Potortì <address@hidden> wrote:
>>I consider Xoctave to be a GPL violation. It is clearly derivative
>>work of Octave,
>
>>[1] To test this: could it work at all without Octave? Could it also
>>be, say, a Matlab or Freemat GUI? If not, it's derivative work.
>
> Well, if it just calls Octave and interacts with it using pipes or some
> similar way of interaction, it is not a derivative: it just calls it.

The nature of the interaction isn't relevant. What is relevant is the
intimacy. How tightly are they coupled? The FSF recommends using
linking as a test for sufficient intimacy, but in this case, Xoctave
is exchanging complicated data with Octave; the exchange happens to be
through a pipe. But without Octave, can Xoctave exist at all? I don't
think it can. Its developers have asked how to use Octave-specific
functions in order to gain debugging information from Octave, even if
it's through a pipe. I think the coupling is close enough for it to be
a GPL violation.

- Jordi G. H.