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

[Nicolas Williams]

On Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 11:59:40AM -0700, Garrett D'Amore wrote:
> Nicolas Williams wrote:
> >The use of xgettext to extract strings for localization does not
> >encumber the core OS.
> 
> Yes I would agree with that.  The gettext(1) binary (not xgettext) 
> however _is_ a core component.

For the last time: this is about xgettext(1), not gettext(1), not
gettext(3C), not libintl(3LIB), etcetera :)

Really, this is only about a build tool.

(I'm not sure that I'd agree that gettext(1) must not be a GPL'ed
program, though certainly gettext(3C) and libintl(3LIB) mustn't be as
long as the core OS isn't either -- but really, that's a whole 'nother
case.)

> Yes, I agree in this case.  However, I do still want that issue to 
> remain in the backs of minds who are naively (perhaps) thinking that 
> "GNU component X is a superset of Solaris component Y... we should just 
> ditch the Solaris version and use the GNU version."

This is a good general comment.  The process ensures that someone, at
some point, is very likely to grasp that there is a license issue,
usually the engineers on the i-team itself (we're not lawyers, but we
aren't clueless either, thank you very much).

Nico
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