[ale] License goop...

[Joseph A Knapka]

Chris Fowler wrote:
> 
> It is okay to symbolically link

I assume you mean "dynamically link"?

> against GPL software.  You can not
> statically link unless your software is open.

That's not what the GPL FAQ says, as quoted below.

Cheers,

-- Joe

[snip]

Ken Kennedy wrote: 

> Again, this also depends on HOW the plug-ins work. Again, from the GPL
> faq:
> 
> > > Q: If a program released under the GPL uses plug-ins, what are the
> > > requirements for the licenses of a plug-in?
> > >
> > > A: It depends on how the program invokes its plug-ins. If the program
> > > uses fork and exec to invoke plug-ins, then the plug-ins are separate
> > > programs, so the license for the main program makes no requirements
> > > for them.
> > >
> > > If the program dynamically links plug-ins, and they make function
> > > calls to each other and share data structures, we believe they form a
> > > single program, so plug-ins must be treated as extensions to the main
> > > program. This means they must be released under the GPL or a
> > > GPL-compatible free software license.
> > >
> > > If the program dynamically links plug-ins, but the communication
> > > between them is limited to invoking the `main' function of the plug-in
> > > with some options and waiting for it to return, that is a borderline
> > > case.

-- 
"I should like to close this book by sticking out any part of my neck
 which is not yet exposed, and making a few predictions about how the
 problem of quantum gravity will in the end be solved."
 --- Physicist Lee Smolin, "Three Roads to Quantum Gravity"

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