Fw: Query about GNU-GPL

[Niall Douglas]

On 23 Mar 2005 at 9:16, Alfred M. Szmidt wrote:

>    >    Including code from non-free libraries will make your package
>    >    non-free. > > Not true.  The result would be illegal, not
>    non-free.  For it to > be legal the whole work has to be licensed
>    under the GNU GPL.
> 
>    And what you've just said is completely untrue 
> 
> ,----[ The GNU General Public License - Section 2 ]
> | b. You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that |   
> in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program |    or
> any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge |    to all
> third parties under the terms of this License. `----

There is a HUGE difference between "under the terms of this License" 
and "under this License". The former means what I said, the latter 
what you said.

>     Despite what the GPL FAQ may say,
> 
> Frankly, I trust the GPL FAQ--which is based on answers from
> lawyers--more then I trust what your opinion on the matter is.

The GPL FAQ is not based on answers from lawyers, rather it is 
written by GPL zealots like yourself and then it is reviewed by 
lawyers to see if their interpretation has some legal basis, which it 
does.

It certainly does not mean it would survive a judicial test. There 
are others on this list far more schooled than I in this area so I 
won't comment further, but do feel free to go review the list archive 
for past discussions on this matter.

Cheers,
Niall