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List:       kde-licensing
Subject:    Re: New QPL online
From:       Andreas Pour <pour () mieterra ! com>
Date:       1999-03-13 12:24:10
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Richard Stallman wrote:

>     So what is the real issue then?  Why is it so bad that there is this
>     extra restriction?
>
> If you release a program under the GPL, and tell people to link it
> with Qt, this clause 6c puts you in a contradictory position *with
> regard to the copying conditions on your own code*.

Why does it do so?  Para. 6(c) says you have to give TT a copy, it does not say
they have a license to redistribute it.  Since you are permitted to give a copy
of GPL code to anyone, I don't see the problem.  Are you mixing 3(b) and 6(c)
together?  B/c all I see in 6(c) is a "show-me" requirement; the only
"license-me" requirement is in 3(b), which applies only to modifications to Qt
source code, not to the works that link with Qt source code.

> With the early draft of to QPL, there was no such problem.  That
> version of the QPL was incompatible with the GPL, but you could
> resolve that problem simply by saying, "I give permission to link this
> code with Qt."
>
> That is no longer true, because this problem is of a more pervasive
> kind.

I apologize if I am being obtuse, but I don't see the pervasive problem.

>     Sure, the QPL is not exactly the GPL, but if you are going to insist that
>     it be precisely the GPL,
>
> I am not asking for the QPL to be the same as the GPL, but I hope it
> will at least allow the KDE developers to release their code under the
> GPL without putting their code in a confusing status.

Well, if this is your concern, then at least Section 3(b) should not be a
problem.  It only applies to modifications to Qt code.   KDE code does not
modify Qt code, so it is not subject to Section 3 at all.

If you are worried about 6(c), I am 100% confident that the KDE people do not
mind showing their source code to TT.  And I don't see how doing so conflicts
with the GPL license on some KDE code.

Regards,

Andreas Pour

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