From: Austin Ziegler <austin@...>
Date: 2003-12-31T17:10:52+09:00
Subject: Re: ruby-dev summary 22273-22434(GPL misconceptions)

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 16:21:48 +0900, Phil Tomson wrote:
> I guess I still don't get the problem with the GPL in this case.
> Just because Ruby uses a GPL'ed component doesn't mean that your
> Ruby script which you're distributing suddenly becomes covered by
> the GPL.

Scripts aren't, but apps embedding Ruby would be.

> ....now embedding Ruby into another app _might_ be a different
> story, but even that seems unlikely. I've not embedded Ruby into
> another C/C++ app,but I suspect that if you did you would compile
> Ruby into some sort of shared library (binary) and I really don't
> think the GPL would effect the rest of your code. (yes, you would
> have to make the Ruby source code available, but what's the big
> deal with that?)

Not necessarily. The GPL is viral -- and this is a feature, not a
bug. Basically, if your code uses GPLed code (not LGPLed code), it
must be covered under the GPL. The FSF interprets this to cover any
sort of linkage, whether static or dynamic. The dynamic linking
claim is not fully supported, but there's no clear ruling on this
under US law either way; other countries may make it more clear. I
believe that RMS has said that users of the Gimp should not use
non-GPLed PhotoShop 8BF filters and that PhotoShop users should not
use GPLed PhotoShop 8BF filters.

I think that the general consensus is that dynamic linking is
clearly a non-violation if there is more than one implementation of
a library, and at least one of them is non-GPLed or has an explicit
exemption.

I haven't read the Groklaw analysis, but I have extensive archives
from the Mozilla licensing discussion several years ago, and my
understanding here is based on such discussion, which included input
by Eben Moglen.

As far as replacing the regex engine, I'd actually love to see some
of the proposals for Perl 6 Regexen implemented for Ruby 2.0 to
remove some of the places that are needlessly complex and confusing.

-austin
--
austin ziegler  * austin@halostatue.ca * Toronto, ON, Canada
software designer * pragmatic programmer * 2003.12.31
                    * 02.59.00