On Tue, Apr 01, 2003 at 08:57:40AM +0300, Dan Patrutiu wrote: > Ben Combee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote >> Actually, the Lesser GNU Public Licence (LGPL) is more stringent than >> that. One of the goals of the LGPL is that you must give the user freedom >> to update the library and "relink" the program to a modified library. > > I understood, but the thing is I don't suppose to change it!
The point is that I, as one of your application's users, might want to change it. For (an unlikely) example, suppose a new version of MathLib came out with a new sin() function in which a bug had been fixed. The LGPL ensures that I can update my copy of your application to use the new MathLib, *even without your help*. Or you might prefer this phrasing: even without bugging you about it :-). Or I might be experimenting with improving the sin() function myself, and want to try your application with my experimental MathLib. And you really don't want me to bug you about doing that; it's much better that the LGPL ensures that I can just get on with it myself. > Can I simply include the code for those functions in my project and > put the credits in the about box, or what should I exactly do? If you want to redistribute code from MathLib that is licensed according to the LGPL, you must do so according to the LGPL [1]. To find out exactly what you should do, you should (surprisingly enough) read the LGPL. You'll find it and a FAQ at http://www.fsf.org/. The short answer to your question is no -- as we've been telling you, this involves more than just the about box. Furrfu. > So let's say I need 5 functions from the library. That's all. [...] > The project will be commercial and I cannot release any API's of it or > something like that. Then it seems to me that you want to do the other thing that has been suggested to you in this thread: find implementations of your five functions that are in the public domain or are otherwise licensed such that you can just pilfer the code. Or, to be absolutely sure, you could study some numerical analysis textbooks and implement the functions you require yourself. Since you have "commercial" resources behind you, I'm sure this won't be very difficult. Of course, if I can't play with the sin() function you're using, I'm less likely to be interested in your application :-). John [1] Yes, I'm oversimplifying. See for example section 3 of the LGPL, but I think that's right out for this person. -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
