Re: Quick Question about GNU Octave using

[Brad]

> On Jul 9, 2018, at 20:23, Mike Miller <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Jul 09, 2018 at 17:05:50 -0700, Ben Abbott wrote:
>> 
>>> On Jul 9, 2018, at 16:37, Brad <address@hidden> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 9, 2018, at 14:42, Mike Miller <address@hidden> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> If an application uses Octave's APIs, then that application is a derived
>>>> work of Octave and must be distributed under the same GPLv3 terms as
>>>> Octave itself.
>>> 
>>> I don’t think that is a good way to put it. That makes it sound like
>>> user programs in Octave must be licensed under GPL restrictions.
>> 
>> Mike is accurate, but could be interpreted incorrectly.
>> 
>> If an application uses Octave's APIs, then that application is a derived
>> work of Octave. If the application is distributed, it must be
>> distributed under the same GPLv3 terms as Octave itself.
> 
> Thank you for rewording that :)
> 
> Also, I think Brad is referring to the API of the Octave interpreter,
> the set of functions that m-file scripts and functions have access to.
> I'm not sure which APIs Ian was referring to.
> 
> It's true I was originally thinking of programs that use Octave's C++
> API, not user programs written in the Octave language.
> 
> If a user program uses the Matlab API, and just happens to run
> successfully in Octave, then it is arguably not a derived work of
> Octave, it is just data that Octave happens to interpret correctly.
> 
> If a user program, even if it is just an m-file, calls
> 'very_special_optimized_octave_function' and relies upon its results,
> then it might be reasonable to argue that it is a derived work of that
> function.
> 
>> If the application is not distributed, then (afaik) the GPL terms do not
>> apply.
> 
> Similarly, if an application is only distributed to three users, then it
> is possible that only those three users are entitled to their rights
> granted by the GPL.
> 
> -- 
> mike


Just to point out:
> Similarly, if an application is only distributed to three users, then it
> is possible that only those three users are entitled to their rights
> granted by the GPL.
Those users are also allowed to share the application granted they also provide 
the source code to the people they distribute it to.