> What is the relationship between the development portions and > the rest? > Is it possible to compile the free parts without using any > non-free parts? > No -- I think that many of the libraries link against Skeletons created by the IDL compiler.
You can't create new CORBA objects without the IDL compiler. You can use existing objects created by someone else as long as you have the libraries (which are LGPL'd) in your possession. -Brent