[cc-community] GNU-GPL, makefiles, and non-distributed executables

Kyle Williams kylewilliams at openwarriors.org
Sat Dec 15 04:33:57 EST 2007


On Saturday 15 December 2007 02:40:59 Greg London wrote:
> Eve compiles the object files together on her computer. Alice makes Eve
> agree to not distribute the resulting executable.
>
> Question:
>
> Does this satisfy the GNU-GPL applied to George's code?

I think the GPL is very clear on this.

In section 2 b)
"You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties under the terms of this License."

So no, even though Eve distributes her code and Georges code the way you 
suggest, her work still contains Georges work and thus must be under the same 
license as Georges work.

On a more practical level. If Eve's wants to make use of Georges code she'll 
need to reference it within her code. Her works then immediately includes 
Georges work, and there's no escaping the license.

And lastly, if Eve wants to use Georges code she should use it according to 
the spirit of the license George made it available under, instead of trying 
to find ways around complying with it.

-- 
Kyle Williams
contact (at) kylewilliams (dot) co (dot) za
Registered Linux User #358078
Phone: +27 (0) 83 511 0643
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