From: janjaap AT Wit381304 DOT student DOT utwente DOT nl (Jan-Jaap van der Heijden) Subject: GNU compilers, new Cygnus license wories. 12 Jul 1997 08:39:58 -0700 Approved: cygnus DOT gnu-win32 AT cygnus DOT com Distribution: cygnus Message-ID: Reply-To: Jan-Jaap van der Heijden Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Original-To: Gordon Irlam Original-cc: GNU-Win32 list , Peter Gerwinski Original-Sender: owner-gnu-win32 AT cygnus DOT com I am worried about the status of GNU compilers and my freedom to modify them with the new, more restrictive Cygnus license [1]. It is allowed to use GCC, as part of the GNUPro toolkit, with cygwin.dll. But, once I modify GCC, it is no longer part of the "GNUPro_Toolkit produced by Cygnus Solutions", and I am not allowed to use it with cygwin.dll. This effectively limits my freedom to modify GCC and distribute modified copies. An example of such a modified GCC is the "mingw32" project. Since usage of cygwin.dll is limited to the GNUPro kit, will Cygnus keep distributing free copies once the beta stage is finished, or do we have to pay money then? In that case, I'd like to know now, before I invest any more of my time. GCC is distributed under the GPL [2]. From sec.6 of the GPL: "You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein." GNUPro is a work based on GCC, and the cygwin32 runtime license imposes a restriction of my rights to modify GCC and distribute modified copies. Now, in sec.7 of the GPL, I read: "If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program." Not only does the GPL forbid *me* to distribute a modified copy of a GPL-ed program that's not completely free software, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it also forbids Cygnus distributing GNUPro because of their own cygwin32 license. Next. I want to be able to build the GNU Pascal [3] compiler based on cygwin32. This fits the Cygnus description of a "Compiler_Suite" and sec.2 forbids me to distribute it. For arguments' sake, let's assume the new Cygnus license does not violate the GPL, so I could modify GCC and distribute modified copies. GNU Pascal reuses the GCC's back-end, combined with a new Pascal frontend. As such, it could be considered a (severely) modified GCC and distribution would be legal. So, legal or not? -- I'm confused. I think it would be unfair if C, C++ and ObjC users could use cygwin32, while Pascal (and Fortran) programmers are denied, just because these compilers are not part of Cygnus' GNUPro. Futhermore, I think this project does not deserve the name "GNU-WIN32" if it's not even GPL-ed, while disallowing true GNU software from using it. I can understand Cygnus' worries about competitors in the field of embedded systems, but this new license also affects people who work hard to produce good, free software, which is what project GNU is all about. Thank you, J.J. van der Heijden References: [1] Cygnus license http://www.cygnus.com/gnu-win32/cygwin32-license-1.0.html [2] GPL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html [3] GNU Pascal: http://home.pages.de/~gnu-pascal/ - For help on using this list (especially unsubscribing), send a message to "gnu-win32-request AT cygnus DOT com" with one line of text: "help".