xgettext (Re: replication of stuff in /usr/gnu)

[Nicolas Williams]

On Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 05:02:40PM +0200, Joerg Schilling wrote:
> Nicolas Williams <Nicolas.Williams at sun.com> wrote:
> > Now, the _libraries_ that GNU xgettext comes with are another story, but
> > we already ship GNU libs in /usr/sfw and /usr/gnu, so this too is
> > nothing new -- the key thing here is that Sun products that aren't
> > GPL'ed shouldn't link to such libraries in any way without Legal
> > approval (which most likely you couldn't get).  Shipping != linking.
> > And using != linking.
> 
> And the GPL does not forbid linking. In fact, the word "linking" appears 
> nowhere in the GPL.
> 
> The GPL talks anbout "the work" and you may link a work against another
> "work" because the GPL does not forbid it.

Right, and use of a CLI whose output is not a derivative of its source
code != making a derivative of that code.  This is a very well
established understanding of the GPL -- we ship various GPL'ed
CLI programs, and we use them from other programs (scripts, whatever)
that aren't GPL'ed, and so do lots of other developers around the world.

> There are problems if you have a GPLd library because the author of this 
> library could argue that any user of his library is creating a "derived work".
> The other big problem is the GPLv3. I contrary what has been announced before,
> the GPLv3 is more restrictive than the GPLv2 and tries to limit the scope
> of the term "mere aggregation" to less than what the GPLv2 permits. 

Perhaps the GPLv3 is sufficiently more restrictive than the GPLv2 that
Legal wouldn't let us include a GPLv3 xgettext.  But GNU distributes a
GPLv2'ed xgettext, so the GPLv3 does not enter the picture (we could
always support the last GPLv2'ed version forever if we had to -- it'd be
easier than extending our xgettext!).

> Due to the fact that the FSF is currently converting all officialy FSF blessed 
> GNU tools to GPLv3, this is something that needs careful observation.

The GPLv2'ed versions can still be used.

Nico
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