Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!uhnix1!splut!jay
From: jay@splut.conmicro.com (Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Cheapest way to Unix program developement
Summary: We only flame GNU because it's deserved.
Keywords: Unix, GNUCC, GCC, 386
Message-ID: <+KC:W8@splut.conmicro.com>
Date: 16 Jan 90 17:35:08 GMT
References: <1271@island.uu.net> <2711@draken.nada.kth.se> <634@foster.avid.oz>
Reply-To: jay@splut.conmicro.com (Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard)
Followup-To: alt.religion.computers
Organization: Confederate Microsystems, League City, TX
Lines: 37

In article <634@foster.avid.oz> mjm@foster.avid.oz (Mike McBain) writes:
>In article <2711@draken.nada.kth.se>, perand@nada.kth.se (Per Andersson) writes:
>> [...material deleted...]. And if you
>> use GNU libraries you have committed to give away your sourcecode and
>> your program. Please read the GNU copyleft. You might find that spending
>> the extra bucks on the PDK is not such a bad idea.
>Yes, please do read the GNU copyleft. Then you will realise that Mr Andersson
>has not done so and is writing a lot of nonsense. This kind of inflammatory
>statement keeps coming up time and time again about GNU software. You do 
>not have to give away your programs at all. All that is required is that if
>you make enhancements to the _GNU_ programs (gcc, gas, etc.) you can
>not make them proprietary. 

Mike's statement is flat wrong, and Per's is correct.

If you use GNU code in your program, your entire program comes under the
GNU Public Virus...er...License. This has been hashed out very
thoroughly on alt.religion.computers, and even the most rabid GNU
defender agrees that that's the case. This includes the GNU Bison
skeleton code, or any GNU libraries.

The offending section of the GPL is section 2b:

    b) cause the whole of any work that you distribute or publish, that
    in whole or in part contains the Program or any part thereof, either
    with or without modifications, to be licensed at no charge to all
    third parties under the terms of this General Public License (except
    that you may choose to grant warranty protection to some or all
    third parties, at your option).

This legal virus does exactly what Per claims.

-- 
Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL   | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jay@splut.conmicro.com       (eieio)| adequately be explained by stupidity.
{attctc,bellcore}!texbell!splut!jay +----------------------------------------
   "There is no doubt I should be tarred and feathered." - Richard Sexton