Re: Compiled files without sources????

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

() Chong Yidong <address@hidden>
() Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:33:16 -0400

   Richard Stallman <address@hidden> writes:

   >     As a first pass, I have added a etc/grammars directory containing the
   >     grammar files in trunk.  The instructions for compiling the grammars
   >     is in etc/grammars/README.  Note that the resulting output differs
   >     from the actual grammar data in lisp/cedet/semantic/[bovine|wisent],
   >     because those were manually modified subsequently.
   >
   > This difference is a problem -- it is like distributing a patched
   > binary.  It doesn't correspond to the source code, and doesn't comply
   > with the GPL.

   If developers are forbidden from manually altering the output of a
   compiled grammar, that is a usage restriction.

The problem is that the differences aren't accountable, not that there are
differences.  To be accountable, the path from original to current must be
transparent.  If that path involves manual editing, a commit (+ ChangeLog)
should be generated.  If that path is machine manifested, the program that
does the change must be distributed (+ commit + ChangeLog, of course).  In
the case of distribution, GPL comes into play (recursively).