Re: GPL only modules

["Horst H. von Brand" <vonbrand@inf.utfsm.cl>]

D. Hazelton <dhazelton@enter.net> wrote:

[...]

> The GPL is a License that covers how the code may be used, modified and 
> distributed. This is the reason that the FSF people had to make the big 
> exception for Bison, because the parser skeleton is such an integral part of 
> Bison (Bison itself, IIRC, uses the same skeleton, modified, as part of the 
> program) that truthfully, any parser built using Bison is a derivative work 
> of code released under the GPL.

They didn't "have to make the big exception", if Linus' view is correct:
The parser is built mechanically from the skeleton and the user's input, so
it is just an aggregation. Sure, it is best to make this clear (by the
exception), even if not needed.

> That said, since there is a distribution, use and modification license on
> the Linux Kernel - the GPLv2 - there are those extra restrictions on the
> code *OUTSIDE* the copyright rules.

A license like GPL works /inside/ copyright law, by allowing you to do
things the law prohibits unless the owner of the right agrees. What the law
allows explicitly, regardless of the owner's wishes, can't be taken away.
-- 
Dr. Horst H. von Brand                   User #22616 counter.li.org
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