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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA1246 ; Tue, 23 Feb 93 14:32:08 EST Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!agate!stanford.edu!rutgers!igor.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!hedrick From: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: Linux or 386BSD? Message-ID: <Feb.12.23.10.26.1993.18433@athos.rutgers.edu> Date: 13 Feb 93 04:10:27 GMT References: <1l6evhINN178@smurf.sti.com> <729313115snx@crynwr.com> <1993Feb10.173725.2882@fcom.cc.utah.edu> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 26 terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C) writes: >Honest opinion: I don't think Linux is worth bothering with, because it >uses the GNU GPL. ... >Further, I can't distribute a Diamond driver or Motif under GPL -- source >will never be available -- but I can distribute binaries. I believe you're misinterpreting how the GPL is used in the Linux community. There's no reason someone couldn't do Motif or other commercial software for Linux. In fact I think you could even do a commercial device driver or other kernel module, as long as you supplied the .o file for your module and let people link it into the kernel themselves. One issue you might be worried about is the fact that Linux uses the Gnu libc. However I think this worry is needless. The library version of the GPL allows commercial applications. They require only (1) that you must distribute the application in a form that lets you link it with modified libraries, and (2) that you must supply or otherwise make available source to the library. However the default form of executables under Linux uses a sharable library with jump table. This allows substitution of modified libraries. So any Linux executable should meet condition (1) unless you explicitly link it static. There's an exemption from (2) for components that are normally distributed with the operating system. Since the Gnu libc is part of the normal Linux distribution, (2) does not apply to Linux.