Re: GPU Engine for Octave

[John W. Eaton]

On  8-Dec-2009, Jaroslav Hajek wrote:

| I thought there was a reference implementation, but now I can't find
| it, so maybe I was wrong. In that case, of course, OpenCL libraries
| would not fall under the System Library exception, because it
| explicitly says that a free implementation must be available. But I
| suppose if OpenCL will become widely adopted, a free implementation is
| a matter of time. Note that the reference implementation would
| probably not need to utilize GPU at all.

The GPLv3 also provides the following definition:

    A "Standard Interface" means an interface that either is an official
  standard defined by a recognized standards body, or, in the case of
  interfaces specified for a particular programming language, one that
  is widely used among developers working in that language.

so I'm not sure that OpenCL qualifies as a "Standard Interface" for
the purposes of the GPL.  Is the Khronos Group (the industry
consortium behind OpenCL) a recognized standards body?

Perhaps it is, but my point is that the GPL does not allow someone to
avoid the terms of the GPL simply by publishing an "open standard" and
then writing some halfway working "reference implementation".

jwe