Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: John Trott <johntrott@××××××××××××.com>
To: gentoo-dev@g.o
Subject: [gentoo-dev] Licensing
Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 02:35:24
Message-Id: NFBBKOINKMFMPODDABPGGEANCAAA.johntrott@netmorevalue.com
1 Hi
2
3 I am very new to both Linux and I notice with Red Hat Linux that any
4 applications developed using Red Hat Software and or Tools become freely
5 distributable (incl source code) under the Red Hat license.
6
7 However, when reading the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE for Linux from
8 Linux.org it appears that, based on the statements below;
9
10 If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and
11 can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves,
12 then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you
13 distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections
14 as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of
15 the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other
16 licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part
17 regardless of who wrote it. Thus, it is not the intent of this section to
18 claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather,
19 the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of
20 derivative or collective works based on the Program.
21
22 In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with
23 the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage
24 or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this
25 License.
26
27 That any additional programs can be produced and licensed separately and
28 from what I understand this applies to Wordperfect Office 2000, which has a
29 proprietory license and is not distributed with the source code.
30
31 Does this apply to the Gentoo Distributions of Linux? i.e. if I produced an
32 internet browser application and supplied it using your Linux distribution,
33 would I have to freely distribute the source code for this, or could it be
34 distributed just as a binary?
35
36 Do you plan to release an embedded version?
37
38
39 Regards