More from RMS
Here's some more from RMS on the GPL-ed programs that use non-free libraries
issue. From reading this it looks like they are OK to distribute in "contrib".
Thanks
Bruce
> From: Richard Stallman <rms@santafe.edu>
>
[From: Bruce Perens]
> There are a number of GPL-ed programs that still use Motif. In the case of
> these, there is Lesstif, so there is at least an alternative. Unfortunately,
> some GPL-ed programs use "XForms", another binary-only library, for which
> there is no free alternative.
>
> The GPL permits linking these programs with Motif, or with XForms,
> only if the library accompanies the operating system and the
> executable does not accompany the operating system.
>
> However, only the copyright holder of the program can enforce the GPL.
> If he says it is ok to link the program with with XForms, that makes
> it ok. The copyright holder can give permission for this even if the
> GPL does not. If the installation instructions released by the
> copyright holder say "You need to link this with XForms", I think that
> constitutes implicit permission to do so. (I hesitate to say more
> than "I think" because I'm not a lawyer. Also, whether this
> constitutes implicit permission may depend on what jurisdiction you
> are in.)
>
> What this means is that if a program was written to link with XForms
> (for example), linking it with XForms is probably legal.
>
> However, the executable linked with XForms is definitely not free
> software. I hope you will not include them in Debian proper. I would
> put them in the non-free category, and explain the reason why, to help
> people understand why using a non-free library is a serious problem.
--
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Linux - the supportable operating system. http://www.debian.org/support.html
Bruce Perens K6BP bruce@debian.org NEW PHONE NUMBER: 510-620-3502
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