From: Daniel Carrera <dcarrera@...>
Date: 2003-07-09T09:08:42+09:00
Subject: Re: My brief and torrid affair with Ruby.

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On Wed, Jul 09, 2003 at 08:57:58AM +0900, Ray Cote wrote:

> Specifically, I just happened to look at the source code in DBI.rb 
> and Oracle.rb and was astonished to discover that these modules are 
> GPL. Then I quickly found trace.rb, and proxy.rb were GPL as well.

Well... since you are not linking or modifying the source code of these files I 
would suppose that the GPL doesn't affect you at all.  You are still able to make 
your own propietary program and use these external files.

Or am I wrong?  I'm not sure if using a Ruby module constitutes a "derivative 
work".

Secondly, even if it *is* a derivative work, you can still make propietary 
programs for your own company (but not for your clients).  The GPL only refers to 
the *distribution* of software.  You always have to right to make secret 
modifications, as long as you keep all that to yourself.

Finally, who does making your program open source inhibit you from making it 
commercial?  I mean, if you are currently using Perl and Python you are certainly 
not hiding the source code.  You can't!  What's the problem with selling a 
GPL-covered application?

> It is a great language and I'm going to have some fun using it.
> I hope I can contribute some things to the community as well.
> I'm just not going to be able to use it commercially for any of my products.

I can assure you that you can use it at least for your internal products.  As for 
clients, like I said, it'll depend on whether (a) your application is really 
considered a derivative work, and (b) you really cannot sell a GPL to your 
clients.

You should also consider contacting the module owners.  They might grant you a 
special license.  But I honestly don't see what this would get you since you can't 
hide Ruby code anyways.

Cheers,
- -- 
Daniel Carrera         | OpenPGP fingerprint:
Graduate TA, Math Dept | 6643 8C8B 3522 66CB D16C D779 2FDD 7DAC 9AF7 7A88
UMD  (301) 405-5137    | http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/pgp.html
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