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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: KBabel/win32: GNU gettext license
From:       Waldo Bastian <bastian () kde ! org>
Date:       2004-12-07 12:25:10
Message-ID: 200412071325.14190.bastian () kde ! org
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> The funny thing is that gettext already links to non-GPL library, 'msvcrt',
> within Cygwin project and similar efforts:
>
> http://gettext.sourceforge.net/
>
> GPL license allows to link with nonGPL runtime libraries shipped with
> compiler. That's unclear because we can pretty well consider unmodified Qt
> as an runtime. 'Where's the boundary?' question looks like a philosophical
> issue for me.

The boundary is defined by the GPL, clause 3
"However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with 
the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on 
which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the 
executable."

So in order to be able to link to a commercial Qt, that commercial Qt version 
should normally be distributed along with one of the major components and not 
along with the executable (kbabel)

I think (but I could be wrong) that the difference here is that msvcrt is 
normally distributed along with the Visual C++ compiler, and that Qt is 
normally not distributed along with the compiler or any other major part of 
the operating systme and that as such, you are not allowed to link to a 
commercial Qt while you are allowed to link to msvcrt on the windows 
platform.

Personal opinion only, not a laywer, no legal advice, yada yada yada.

Cheers,
Waldo
-- 
bastian@kde.org   |   Free Novell Linux Desktop 9 Evaluation Download
bastian@suse.com  |   http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/eval.html

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