natt
Junior Member
Posts: 248
Registered: 05-11 |
wesleyjohnson said:
Sounds a little strange to me, that you read the GPLv2 as restricting what other libraries it can access and communicate with.
If you compile any of these ports for Windows, does it not communicate with a bunch of proprietary libraries.
There is an exception clause in GPLv2, which covers most or all of the libraries you are probably thinking of:
Richard Beardman said:
However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.
wesleyjohnson said:
DoomLegacy does not embed any libraries, only links to them, so I think it would be moot if those libraries went GPLv3.
As always, you should consult your own lawyer before reaching any legal decision, but from what I've seen browsing the net, there's a widespread belief that the exact form of the connection (shared memory, dynamic link, static link, network, whatever) is not relevant. This is reflected in the license itself: There is no reference to specific forms of linking or communication, but there is language like this:
Richard Beardman said:
If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
So the question is more about the relationship between these various pieces of code; are they "parts of a whole" or discrete individual programs?
I'm not meaning to stir anything up; I'd only emphasize that the situation is always complicated when dealing with copyright law, and there are rarely clear-cut answers.
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07-29-11 22:13 
