Mail Archives: djgpp/2001/07/10/04:09:31
On Mon, 9 Jul 2001, Doug Kaufman wrote:
> > Unfortunately, this means that ports of GNU programs (such as Wget)
> > cannot be linked with WATTCP and redistributed, since that violates the
> > GPL.
> >
> > There's nothing wrong with not believing in GPL, but please realize that
> > your disbelief prevents well-meaning people from make Wget and other useful
> > programs available.
>
> I have gone back and read the GPL several times. As I read it, you
> should be able to link a GPL'd work with a non-GPL'd library, as long
> as the source code of that library can be distributed with the binary.
DJ pretty much answered that, but let me respond from a slightly
different perspective.
SimTel CD is a commercial product that is distributed for profit.
WATTCP's license forbids commercial distribution. So Wget linked with
WATTCP cannot be put on the SimTel CD.
Since SimTel CD is prepared from the SimTel repository, it probably
means that we cannot even put a Wget binary on SimTel. But even if
this can be worked around, the fact that Wget cannot be distributed on
a CD that someone sells is already a limitation of your freedom to use
WATTCP.
The FSF itself sells a CD with GNU software, based on DJGPP and Cygwin
ports (I've just finished working on a new release). The current
WATTCP license means that a DJGPP port of Wget cannot be part of that
CD.
It's ironic that a license that was supposed to free developers from
the ``chains of GPL's tyranny'' is actually killing the possibility of
distributing free software which uses that library.
WATTCP's license might have made sense back when many ventures were
developing DOS-based products. However, IMHO it makes much less sense
now that the absolute majority of programs which use WATTCP are GPL'ed
anyway.
As another data point, consider the DJGPP library license, which is
compatible with LGPL and also allows distribution without library
sources. So the original problem can be solved without breaking LGPL.
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