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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.hawaii.edu!ames!haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!uvaarpa!cv3.cv.nrao.edu!laphroaig!cflatter From: cflatter@nrao.edu (Chris Flatters) Subject: Re: [386BSD] Position on GPL and GNU softwa Message-ID: <1992Dec4.181531.23919@nrao.edu> Sender: news@nrao.edu Reply-To: cflatter@nrao.edu Organization: NRAO References: <SCOTTM.92Dec3135937@intime.intime.com> Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1992 18:15:31 GMT Lines: 36 In article 92Dec3135937@intime.intime.com, scottm@intime.intime.com (Scott Michel) writes: >>>>>> On 3 Dec 1992 01:22:51 GMT, gsh7w@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU said: > >Greg>#This isn't a bad idea at all, but even GNU has been pretty >Greg>#litigious. They lost a court fight against Lotus earlier in the >Greg>#year, claiming that a Unix #port of 1-2-3 was now public because >Greg>#it incorporated a "public" library (it was libc), and since the >Greg>#library was copylefted, therefore the entire piece of software >Greg>#was. > >Greg>Could you provide documentation for this astounding claim? I've never >Greg>heard anything remotely like it, and if what you claim is true, it >Greg>would have major implications. > >*DISCLAIMER* > >I don't mention this to propogate rumors. Being objectivism-oriented, >I deal with fact and experience as my fundamental basis for knowledge. >However, my ability to recall may be suspect. > >*WITH THAT IN MIND* >I seem to recall it being either March or April, in InfoWorld or Unix >Review. gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu may be able to shed some light on this. April 1st, maybe? I don't recall seeing any account of such a case and its something I would be unlikely to overlook. I also think that the timescales are wrong: I don't think that GNU libc has been around long enough to be the subject of of lititigation that could have been resolved by April '92. In addition, I believe that GNU libc falls under the GNU library license (maybe someone who has it on disk can verify this) which explicitly does not require disclosure of the sources for programs linked with the library. Chris Flatters cflatter@nrao.edu