Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!pt!dld From: dld@F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (David Detlefs) Newsgroups: gnu.gcc Subject: Re: NeXt and copyleft Message-ID: Date: 25 Jul 89 16:46:12 GMT Organization: CMU CS Department Lines: 39 Damn, my (I thought) carefully constructed understanding of what the copyleft does and does not allow is once again invalidated. I had thought that this kind of thing would be permitted, because: 1) The NeXT object code is not a derived work (unless the inclusion of GNU header files in it's source makes it one?) 2) If a user buys the NeXT object code and a makefile, what is to prevent him from executing that makefile? I can see that the user is not free to distribute the resulting program without distributing the source (including the NeXT source?), but why can't s/he use it? First, let me say that this is mostly a matter of intellectual curiosity with me; I'm not planning on trying to make money with such schemes.* If no one who's opinion really counts is willing to take the time to answer my questions, could someone point me to an archive for gnu.gcc, where I could reperuse RMS's comments on the copyleft to try to check where my understanding went awry? *I do happen to think that the world would become a better place in general if some way could be found for gnu compilers and libraries to be used by industry in the same way as gnu emacs can be. I think that the FSF's most effective strategy towards meeting it's political goals is to target specific pieces of system software, and produce a free portable version so good that it drives companies out of the business of making that tool. I think this is mostly working for editors, but not so for C compilers, mostly because of licensing fears that appear well-founded. *** But this belongs in the semi-promised gnu.politics. I for one would love to see such a group. I have my own views, but I would approach such a group with a sincere willingness to alter those views in the face of superior logic. -- Dave Detlefs Any correlation between my employer's opinion Carnegie-Mellon CS and my own is statistical rather than causal, dld@cs.cmu.edu except in those cases where I have helped to form my employer's opinion. (Null disclaimer.)