Who am I to argue with you over KDE licensing? :) But while I know TrollTech wouldn't do anything, technically I'm pretty sure I'm correct.
The problem isn't linking a GPL'd program against an LGPL library (which is fine for two reasons, in this case glibc is a 'system library', and secondly the LGPL has a 'under the terms of this license, OR the GPL' clause.. so when included in a GPL'd program it's automatically GPL'd)... The problem is linking a LGPL'd library against a GPL'd library. Eg, in this case kdelibs (LGPL'd) is linked against a GPL'd library. In your example ProgramX (GPL'd) was linked against a LGPL'd library. Completely different cases. I'm not a lawyer and all that, but the way I read it, you simply cannot link in that direction. Expecially statically linking, as that makes kdelibs a derivitive work of QT. Which means kdelibs must adapt the GPL. Clause 3 of the LGPL would thus cause kdelibs to revert to the GPL, not the LGPL. Hence why I was so confused about which license it was under. Now, this isn't a bad thing for kdelibs - reverting to the GPL means nothing important... but it thus creates a condition where anything using a LGPL->GPL'd reverted library (which is every library in kdelibs, pretty much, as I'm fairly sure they all use QT headers) must also be GPLed. Thus non-GPL'd kde apps are illegal. Confusing, isn't it? :) And this conversation is getting pretty OT, so we should probably dump it from the list. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way it reads to my sleep-deprived mind. I know nobody will enforce it, but it does create an intresting conflict which could have numerous ramifications (if I am correct).. such as KDE not being included in Debian again (*cry*). - Ender > > Basically, KDE and TrollTech are being quite inconsistant. As long as we > > remove QT dependancy from the khtml/kjs libraries, we can implement it in > > WINE. As the code currently stands, khtml/kjs (and a bunch of other KDE > > libraries) are in violation of their own licensing :) > > HUH??? > > When did you look last time at your linux distribution, specifically at the > glibc license... yup, it's... LGPL'd... does it means that linking a GPL'd > program against LGPL library is illegal? nope, it's very legal.. > > Same case here. kdelibs are LGPL'd (some with artistic license, some with BSD > license, etc) are ALLOWED to be linked to GPL'd program, which is also what > QT is - a GPL (and QPL) license. > > Do you think that TrollTech wouldn't do anything if it was illegal? after all, > the KDE is their number 1 "customer" ;) > > Thanks, > Hetz >