Re: [Linphone-developers] G729 support in mediastremer2

[Petr Pisar]

On Sun, Aug 01, 2010 at 01:53:42PM -0700, kl wrote:
> --- On Mon, 8/2/10, Petr Pisar <address@hidden> wrote:
> > 
> > If producer distributes non-GPL object and GPL source, then
> > all terms are met:
> > Recipient got source for any GPL code and he got it under
> > the same terms. The
> > matter he got some non-GPL object in addition does not
> > infrigine GPL because
> > the code the two pieces are completly separate.
> >
>  
> Not very clear to me. Do you have an example ?

I put an example with nvidia driver. Nvidia supplies some GPL source code,
some proprietary object and a build sript. All of them in one archive. User use
the script to compile the GPL code and link it with the proprietary blob
together.

Does nvidia provided source for any GPL code? Yes.
Can user use, run, modify, and distribute the GPL code? Yes.

Result is: GPL has not been violated.

There is only one problem: User cannot distribute resulting binary file
because user cannot provide source code or any right for the blob that is
embeded to the resulting binary he has just built.


> Is it like mplayer with a win32 binary codec, or a linphone with a binary
> only plugin codec ?

None of them.

MPlayer is offered as binary and does not include proprietary
header files for win32 codecs. (Because the headers defining API are
rewritten from scratch, or they have been released by Microsoft under
permissive license allowing to relicense as GPL.)

The linphone version in question contains proprietary header files to get
symbols of the binary plugin. Thus the linphone version violates GPL. (As far
as I can understand from this discussion. I haven't see the proposed linphone
modifications providing compatibility to the codec.)

-- Petr

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