GPL really free was Re: [Fsfe-ie] 1-page letter, faxes at the ready (IFSO, irish org)

[Niall Douglas]

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On 26 Sep 2003 at 15:43, Ciaran O'Riordan wrote:

> > It's leagal  
> > status is debatable (and not wholly of interest to me).
> 
> I'm a legaly-interested fellow, there's currently no valid claim
> that GPL is not enforceable.

I don't think the problem is whether it's enforceable, it's when it 
applies and when it does not.

For example I personally would say that proprietary code can use a 
GPL library if it's in a DLL and no GPL code found its way into the 
proprietary binary so long as the proprietary work is a work in its 
own right.

But GNU disagrees in its GPL FAQ. Legal opinion appears to be very 
divided on this one. If you apply the AFC test for determining 
copyright derivationness, I think I'm right for most binaries. I'm 
currently arguing this one with a fellow on fsfeurope actually.

Cheers,
Niall





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