Re: GTK Netscape is impossible

[Carl Thompson <carlt cc64317-a hwrd1 md home com>]

I believe you are mistaken about the contents of the LGPL.  Please go
back and read it.

Since GTK is under the LGPL, it doesn't matter how Netscape is licensed.
The LGPL states that if you link with LGPLed libraries then you must
provide access to the source code of the LIBRARIES, and allow the user to
modify those LGPLed LIBRARIES for use by your program.  Specifically, in
this case that would mean that you have to provide access to the GTK
source code AND distribute your program in a form that would allow the
user to modify the libraries and use the modified libraries with your
program.  This would mean that the program must be distributed in object
form or executable form dynamically linked with the library (or source
form, of course).  This is not a problem.

I recently had an e-mail conversation with Richard Stallman on this very
subject so I am reasonably cetain that this is accurate.

Think about it: The current version of Netscape is dynamically linked with
libc and other LGPLed libraries, right?

A quote from the LGPL:
    This Library General Public License is intended to permit
    developers of non-free programs to use free libraries, while
    preserving your freedom as a user of such programs to change
    the free libraries that are incorporated in them.

(Technically, though, Netscape IS in violation of the LGPL because they
do not provide source code to the LGPLed libraries that they use nor do
provide access to it on their FTP site or by other means.)

Hope this helps,
Carl Thompson


On Mon, 9 Mar 1998, Gregor Hoffleit wrote:

> Edward Betts wrote:
>     Since Netscape is released under the Netscape Public Licence (NPL)
>     and not the GPL as GTK it breaks the GTK to port netscape to GTK.
>     (No program can use bits of a GPL program without being released
>     GPL).
> 
> Even if GTK was licensed under the GPL (not LGPL): It's completely fine to
> mix GPL and non-GPL code, as long as the license of the other code is
> `compatible' with the GPL, i.e. the license has to grant enough rights
> to fulfill the conditions of the GPL (availability of the source, right
> to modify etc.). The NPL has been designed to grant you these rights.
> Look at http://www.opensource.org. There's probably the press release by
> Bruce Perens from the Debian project in which he comments on the NPL draft.
> Specifically it states that the NPL is compliant to the Debian Free Software
> Guidelines; in short you could say that any software that is DFSG compliant
> can be mixed with GPL code.
> 
> 	Gregor
> 
> 
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