GUI goodness for your Mouse and Keyboard programming

[Erik Christiansen]

On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 07:09:57PM +0200, Gilles Gravier wrote:
> Heike C. Zimmerer wrote:
> > Gilles Gravier <gilles at gravier.org> writes:
> >   
> >> As you can see, it's VERY possible. In fact, VERY COMMON, to bundle open
> >> source and non open source code in ways that aren't infringing on the
> >> orignial open source license.
> >
> > It is, indeed.  But ... the "terms and conditions" page reads:
> >
> > | [...]  rights in and to the Software shall remain in YODASOFT
> > | TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD, except for the xosd library and the usb device
> > | driver, which are both installed into the 'hidpoint/lib' and
> > | 'hidpoint/driver' directory of the installation. These components are
> > | licensed under the GPL license.
> >
> > Note that they mention the GPL (not the LGPL).  Such a combination is
> > clearly illegal - you would need the libs to be LGPL'ed to allow closed
> > source to be linked against them.
> >   
> No. You are wrong. The fact that they link to doesn't mean that they
> have to be GPL. It's the fact that they are BUNDLED which would mandate
> GPLing.

Two problems here:
a) Above, Gilles Gravier wrote:
> >> In fact, VERY COMMON, to bundle open
> >> source and non open source code in ways that aren't infringing on the
> >> orignial open source license.

If that is (at least in part) referring to the GPL, then how is that
reconciled with:

> It's the fact that they are BUNDLED which would mandate GPLing.

If I understand the word "bundle", then it appears to be aggregation,
and therefore not a problem.

b) The assertion:
> The fact that they link to doesn't mean that they have to be GPL.

Is contrary to all my reading on this subject, including:

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#LinkingWithGPL

which says:

>>>
You have a GPL'ed program that I'd like to link with my code to build a
proprietary program. Does the fact that I link with your program mean I
have to GPL my program?

Not exactly. It means you must release your program under a license
compatible with the GPL (more precisely, compatible with one or more GPL
versions accepted by all the rest of the code in the combination that
you link). The combination itself is then available under those GPL
versions. 
<<<

The GPL (GPL-2) says this on linking:

>>>
This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program
into proprietary programs.  If your program is a subroutine library, you
may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications
with the library.  If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser
General Public License instead of this License.
<<<
   
and even the LGPL imposes some responsibilities if that is done. There
is no linking free lunch with the [L]GPL.

Erik

-- 
"What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out,
which is the exact opposite." - Bertrand Russell, _Sceptical_Essays_, 1928