Please excuse my ignorance but I am horribly confused here. Can someone dumb
these bits down for me. My tech experience is reasonably limited and I don't
want to make any mistakes.
>From: "J. Michael Looney" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
had this to say:
>What is software in this context? Perl Scripts? HTML code? PostScript,
>RTF or PDF docs? For that matter I have had a lawyer say that ANY computer
>file, even "text files" is "software" in a legal sense. Given that the
>GPL does NOT allow "non open" that means that if you publish on the web
>you may not have "closed" parts. I have a little trouble with that. No,
>that's not true. I have a LOT of trouble with that.
>
Ok, so do I for several different reasons. There was then a fair amount of
discussion revolving around programming and various licences some of which I
followed and some of which I didn't.
Ryan then replied with this:
> Section 2:
>
>"In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the
Program with
>the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a
storage
>or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope
of this
>License."
>
>This is how separate IP elements are handled. You put them in
external data
>files and then the GPL'd code reads those files at runtime. As long
as the
>two files are not compiled together into one file or linked
statically, or
>linked dynamically with defined references through an API, you don't
need to
>use the GPL license with that external file.
>
>Thus, if you have an external data file that does not contain Open
Game
>Content, and is not a part of an executable or designed to be compiled
into
>an executable, that material does not have to be GPL'd. If you have
an
>external data file that >does< contain Open Game Content, you have to
GPL
>that file.
>
And I'm afraid I'm still confused. While this seemed to put some of
Michael's worries to rest I still have very little idea what's going on. If
I publish my products as PDFs (which may or may not be software?!?) are they
automatically considered fully open. If so this puts a gigantic kink in my
plans.
I have no intention of releasing anything but pen and paper gaming
supplements and rules, no CRPGs or even standard software( as I understand
it) accessories. I do intend to release most of it as electronic or online
documents. Does this new clause effect me at all?
Once again I apologize for my ignorance but I get lost beyond the most basic
applications of HTML and DOS when it comes to programming.
Sedge
io Spam, jail Shub-niggurath
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