Hi, Its been a long time but many years ago when working with Ghostscript and commercial interfaces to it. The solution was (under their license) to build an interface to the external library in such a way if the external library/DLL wasn't there the software did not fail and if another library with an identical interface to the published interface was installed, the software would operate as normal. If the library was not found, the software did not crash but it was not functional. This required a bit more work on the part of the developer as the DLL required to be loaded at runtime dynamically rather than being linked statically at compile time.
If such an approach was allowable under the LinuxCNC license, from the users perspective all that he would need to do would be to install an ethercat binary and ethercat protocol would be enabled as LinuxCNC's code is totally compartmentalised from the commercial license. (kinda like a software version of plugging in a Mesa Smart Serial device.) Rod Webster +61 435 765 611 Vehicle Modifications Network www.vehiclemods.net.au On 23 January 2018 at 05:38, Darren Conway <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > Has anyone considered asking Bekhoff for their view on this issue? > > They might grant a GPL compatible license for LinuxCNC. > > Regards > > Darren Conway > > > On 23.01.18 8:27 AM, Andy Pugh wrote: > >> >> On 22 Jan 2018, at 21:08, Nicklas Karlsson <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> In source code I got from soem there is GNU license but somewhere I also >>> found an exception, below so I am a little bit confused. >>> >> I have always been confused by this too. >> >> The worry is that if we distribute anything EtherCAT with LinuxCNC then >> we obligate anyone who uses it to also seek a Bekhoff license. So that >> would make our distribution not-GPL >> >> I think that the Free Software Foundation has lawyers, but can’t recall >> if we asked them about this. >> >> Then you get into the murky shadows that allow Wine to exist. >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> ------------------ >> Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most >> engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot >> _______________________________________________ >> Emc-developers mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers >> > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------ > Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most > engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot > _______________________________________________ > Emc-developers mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers
