NPO

[Kurt Granroth]

der.hans wrote:
> True, there are other Free Software licenses. The way I see it, the issue
> isn't really whether or not the licenses are free, but rather if they're
> compatable.
> 
> For instance ldd on apache reveals it links to /usr/lib/libgdbm.so.1 from
> the libgdbm library. The copyright file in /usr/share/doc/libgdbmg1/ shows
> that the package is GPLd, not LGPLd, e.g. what libc6 is using.

This isn't a problem.  This would fall under the "system software"
clause.  I can't remember if it's explicitely mentioned in the GPL or
if it just came up in "interpretation sessions" with rms.

Basically, you may link to and use non-free (much less non-compatible)
libraries IF they are considered system libraries -- that is, included
on all installed systems.  This came up after GNU programs were
"ported" to non-free Unixes like SunOS.  Since libc on those systems
are not free, there was a fear that GNU programs couldn't be used on
them.  The decision was to allow for linking to system libs as a
result.

Of course, there is an entirely other take on this: the GPL may not
prohibit linking TO non-free libraries.  I am so *NOT* going to get
into more detail on that anymore, though.
-- 
Kurt Granroth            | http://www.granroth.org
KDE Developer/Evangelist | SuSE Labs Open Source Developer
granroth@kde.org         | granroth@suse.com
            KDE -- Conquer Your Desktop