2009/1/29 Joern Rennecke <amyl...@spamcop.net>: > Quoting Paolo Bonzini <bonz...@gnu.org>: > >> Joern Rennecke wrote: >>> >>> Quoting Ian Lance Taylor <i...@google.com>: >>>> >>>> I'm not sure what your point is here. newlib is not under the GPL in >>>> any case. It is not affected by the gcc runtime library license. >>> >>> The old runtime library exception allowed you to distribute binaries that >>> both include pieces of the gcc runtime and arbitrary pieces of newlib, >>> without requiring the distribution to be under the terms of the GPL. >>> I.e. your could link non-GPL code against both the gcc runtime and newlib >>> and distribute it. >>> The new license does not allow this unless all parts included from newlib >>> are written in a high level language AND use the gcc runtime.
This doesn't make any sense to me. If a module X (including any part of newlib) is not written in a high-level language, it doesn't need compilation. So they are allowed to link GCC libraries. If it does not link with GCC libraries, it is not affected by the GCC's GPL. What is the case that I am missing? > It is not the parts of newlib that are affected, it is users that are > affected who want to link newlib which includes these parts - together > with libgcc and Independent Modules, and distribute the resulting > binaries under non-GPL terms. They will no longer be allowed to do > this with when they are using a single link step, as they are creating > a derived work for which they have no license to distribute, except > possibly the GPL. It doesn't matter if you link incrementally or in a single step or your code is ready for dynamic linking (the GPL does not differentiate between static or dynamic linking for derived works), the only important thing is what you end up propagating. If you propagate a work that is not a derived work from GCC libraries, then it is not covered by GCC's GPL and it doesn't need an exception. If it does, then its "target code" must have been produced by a compiler that is either GPL-compatible or does not use any GCC code. Anything that is not "target code" is not covered by the license. What is unclear about this? Cheers, Manuel.
