[cad-linux] Re: openDWG toolkit perl wrapper: GPL?
- From: Guy Edwards <guy_j_edwards@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: cad-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 28 May 2003 08:25:47 +0100
On Wed, 2003-05-28 at 02:11, Eric Wilhelm wrote:
> > The following was supposedly scribed by
> > phrostie
> > on Tuesday 27 May 2003 05:50 pm:
>
> >licence issues seem to have always been a problem with OpenDWG.
> >it seems that there is,
> >what the site says,
> >what the included docs say,
> >and then what the reps from opendwg say.
> >
> >i don't pertend to understand.
> >read well, ask all.
>
> I haven't really encountered the discrepancies here, but it is my
> understanding from reading the license (the one agreed to when joining) that
> your level of membership determines whether you can use or distribute the
> toolkit (free to use, pay to distribute.)
>
> We won't be selling software anytime in the near future, and I imagine that
> most companies which are using Perl for geometry processing won't either. As
> far as these systems go, I don't see any problem with the openDWG license.
>
Hi Eric,
Basically, as I understand it, the code you write will be free (free in
price and free in the hairy Richard Stallman way) and GPL or whatever
you choose but the OpenDWG libs are not free to distribute, and your end
program will be a combination of the two. If you read the license you
aren't allowed to distribute the program unless the libs are compiled in
and the programs free as in price (or if you pay them money and your
program isn't free.)
You can't freely distribute the OpenDWG source, and it's license affects
the program you create with them, hence you need to put in a one
paragraph line in your GPL license for the program to say, as Andy said,
that you give them permission to link to the libs. You won't get
included in any free linux distribution ever either, as the full source
needs to be distributed with it, and you can't legally distribute the
OpenDWG source.
If you're in any doubt, write your program, release it under the GPL and
then announce it on the freegis mailing list
https://intevation.de/mailman/listinfo/freegis-list where there are at
least a couple of important people from the European FSF who will
explain to you in depth any problems they have with you using the GPL
and the OpenDWG libs together.
(not trying to put a dampener on your ideas, its just lx-viewer had this
problem and we've been there)
Guy
--
Guy Edwards <guy_j_edwards@xxxxxxxxxx>
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