[techtalk] GPL Questions

[franzoni at edisons.it]

On Thu, 11 Nov 1999, Stephan Zaniolo wrote:

> 	I read through the GPL and at the end it says that GPLed programs are not
> allowed to be incorporated into proprietary systems.  I was planning on
> publishing an API for this system that others could use in proprietary
> software.  (Note: no code from the system would/should be used in the
> proprietary system, just method/function calls)  Is this in violation of
> the GPL?

Yes. Using a library is (by the GPL) considered a combined work, so you
should release _all_ of your code under GPL. There is a way, though...
give a look at the LGPL (Library GPL), which
permits developers of non-free programs to use free libraries.

So if you have a work "based on the library" (i.e. which contains code
from the library) that must be under LGPL too. If you have a work "using
the library" that can be proprietary.

You should find LGPL in the gnu site where GPL is.

Eugenia


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