Thomas Heller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> On Fri, 2006-01-27 at 17:08 +0100, Thomas Heller wrote: >>>>> Anyway, another question is: Is aclocal.m4 needed at all for building >>>>> (or maybe for regenerating the configure scripts), or is it optional? >>>> >>>> aclocal.m4 is required, but is only used as a build-time tool. The fact >>>> that aclocal.m4 is distributed under the GPL should have no impact on >>>> the licensing terms used for software built using aclocal.m4. >>> >>> If I understand correctly this means that the Python source distribution >>> would have to be GPL licensed, while the built programs would be able to >>> use another license. >>> >>> I'm pretty sure this kills the whole idea (to include libffi in python). >> >> I guess I wasn't clear. aclocal.m4 is just a tool used to build libffi. >> Like your C compiler. Bundling it with the Python source distribution >> should have no impact on the licensing of Python itself, since it isn't >> really part of the resulting Python binary - just like your C compiler >> isn't. > > I guess I understood this already. The difference to the C compiler is > that the compiler is not 'bundled' with Python, it is installed > separately.
That's no different. If you burn a CD containing a copy of the GCC and a copy of a commercial software you are not violating any license. If you distribute an .ISO file containing a copy of the GCC and a copy of a commercial software, you are not violating any license. If you distribute a .zip file containing a copy of GCC and a copy of a commercial software, you are not violating any license. There is an important difference between aggreggation of different programs, and static/dynamic linking of parts. Autoconf is a build tool, and it does not impose any license on the software you use it with. Plus some files have the special exception from GPL so that even the files *generated* by autoconf (and partly made of pieces of autoconf) do not require to be GPL. This is exactly like GCC's runtime library (libgcc, and also libstdc++) which are GPL with the special exception, and you can use them also for commercial products. Also, do not understimate previous history. There are zillions of programs out there using Autconf and *not* being GPL. -- Giovanni Bajo _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
