Greetings Debian-legal, (I've just started subscribing to this list.) On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 13:42:21 -0700, Steve Langasek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat, Sep 04, 2004 at 04:56:00PM +0200, Claus Färber wrote: > > If we follow this interpretation, this means that you can't distribute > > an closed source OS with GPL tools. IMO, this was not the intention of > > the GPL authors. > > Of course it was. The GPL is about advancing the cause of a wholly free > operating system; giving free operating systems a competitive advantage > over non-free operating systems that happen to provide free tools is > precisely in line with the goals of the framers. > > And while you're free to doubt that this was the intent, this is > nevertheless what the letter of the license encodes.
Caveat, mere aggregation: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation What is the difference between "mere aggregation" and "combining two modules into one program"? Mere aggregation of two programs means putting them side by side on the same CD-ROM or hard disk. We use this term in the case where they are separate programs, not parts of a single program. In this case, if one of the programs is covered by the GPL, it has no effect on the other program. [...] -- Joseph Lorenzo Hall UC Berkeley, SIMS PhD Student http://pobox.com/~joehall/ blog: http://pobox.com/~joehall/nqb2/