Re: [XBoard-devel] License matters

[Tim Mann]

Bundling things that are non-GPL together in an installer with things
that are GPL is not a violation of the GPL.  It's a violation only if
you make a single program by linking non-GPL code with GPL code.
XBoard and WinBoard talk to chess engines (etc.) through pipes, so
there is no licensing problem using them with non-GPL software.

See: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation

You do generally need to make sure that you have permission to
redistribute things, and if you bundle a lot of stuff together, your
bundle is effectively bound by the most restrictive license.  For
instance, if you put a "free for all non-commercial purposes" font in
the bundle, then maybe it's not OK for anyone to include that bundle on
a CD that is sold, not even as an extra add-in.  (Generally the "free
for non-commercial purposes" type of license is a bad thing, since it's
not well defined what a "commercial purpose" is.)

On Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:37:59 +0200, "h.g. muller" <address@hidden> wrote:
> I have a question on what we can bundle with WinBoard in an installer
> package, and what not.
> 
> I noticed that the previous installer package (for 4.2.7b) we included
> Crafty. Now Crafty, although open source, is not GPL'd, and in fact
> has a license that is incompatible with the GPL. Isn't it a violation of
> the GPL to bundle software that puts restrictions on the use of its code
> together with WinBoard?
> 
> If not, then how about bundling it with software that is not open source
> at all?
> 
> And how about Chess fonts? There are many fonts listed as "freeware"
> on the site http://www.enpassant.dk/chess/fonteng.htm . Can such
> freeware be included? The Chess-font downloads are only 20-30 KB,
> and if an installer is good for anything, it is good for making sure any
> fonts are properly installed. How about a font of that is said to be
> "free for all non-commercil purposes", such as the font at
> http://www.kaiwan.hk/xqfont/english/index.htm#notes ? I suppose we
> can bundle that with GPL stuff, as a font is not a program, and the
> concept of "surce code" does not apply to a font. But is it legal to just
> go ahead and do it, or would we need (signed) permission from the
> creator of the font anyway?
> 
> H.G.
> 
> 


-- 
Tim Mann  address@hidden  http://tim-mann.org/