Re: [Savannah-hackers] savannah.gnu.org: submission of The GOSSIP Simulation Environment

[Loic Dachary]

 > 
 > Is it completely without effect, or does it achieve something, but not
 > what I want?  What does the exception achieve?

        What it does is that the content of the header *only* is covered
by the exception. libguile-gossip code will still be GPL, hence will not
be covered by the exception and linking with it will have the same effect
as with any other GPL code.

 > The technical setup is like this: GOSSIP consists of Scheme code that
 > is loaded into a Guile interpreter, plus a shared library
 > "libguile-gossip" that is dynamically linked at run-time to the Guile
 > interpreter.  In turn, this library dynamically loads at run-time
 > additional shared libraries which implement the `primitive blocks' of
 > a simulation.
 > 
 > I don't want these `primitive block libraries' to be covered by the
 > GPL, even so they link to libguile-gossip which is distributed under
 > the GPL.  Linking to libguile-gossip would make the block libraries
 > derived works, in my understanding.
 > 
 > In general, I want to make code that builds on libguile-gossip to be
 > covered by the GPL.  I want to exempt the specific API used to program
 > block libraries from this, however.  This API is specified in the
 > header file.
 > 
 > So what I want to say is that when your _only_ contact with GOSSIP is
 > by including this one header file and using the facilities defined
 > therein, your code will not be covered by the GPL.

        Hence you will allow non free software to link and ship with it.

 > > From your description it seems that LGPL would better fit your
 > > needs. Is there a specific problem with the LGPL that you want to
 > > avoid ?
 > 
 > The problem would be that libguile-gossip could then be used with
 > non-free programs, which I don't want.

        I'm lost. You want to allow non free program to *link* with
libguile-gossip (above) and you don't want libuile-gossip to be *used*
by non free software. Where is the difference ? What do you mean by
"used with non free programs" ? Sorry if I'm stupid here :-}

 > GPL terms.  This wont likely make any difference since not many people
 > are GOSSIP anyway.  Yet.  ;)

        That's probably the most important point. Are you familiar with
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html ?

        Cheers,

-- 
Loic   Dachary         http://www.dachary.org/  address@hidden
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