On 2002.02.09 18:31 Brett Glass wrote:
At 04:06 PM 2/9/2002, David Elliott wrote:
Yes, the purpose of LGPL is to force proprietary components to be in
seperate relinkable object files.
I wouldn't call this its "purpose," just one of its many requirements. The purpose of the FSF is to eliminate all commercial software and compromise programmers' livelihoods (as Stallman specifically writes in many places, including his "GNU Manifesto").
Really???? The FSF's purpose is to elimnate all proprietary software???? Who'da thunk it? Is there someone who doesn't know this.. it's written all over the website.. jesus, you act like it's some big secret.
The only symbols you'll have to export from these proprietary
[Snip]
Not proprietary, but commercial.
No, proprietary. You can both sell and develop free software as a commercial entity. End of discussion. Everything CodeWeavers has put into Wine is commercial, but it is not proprietary.
I see you seemed to concede my point that you only need show the symbols you are exporting.
And don't be concerned about looking at LGPL code either. I too develop
proprietary software and I develop some of that software using free (LGPL) libraries. There is nothing preventing me from looking at the source to these libraries I am using.
Yes, there is. If you write anything like it -- ever -- the owner of the copyright on the code you have perused can claim that what you wrote is a derivative work and demand that you forfeit all rewards from it. This is one of the many hidden "booby traps" in the GPL and LGPL.
This is classic FUD. Fits the definition perfectly. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
As the licenses' viral spread has continued, the FSF and other zealots have gradually gotten bolder and bolder. While they have not played this card yet, they can -- and will -- if they see it as being to their advantage in their war against commercial software developers everywhere.
The FSFs purpose and goals are irrelevant. The Wine developers purpose and goals are what is relevant.
I see you are clearly interested in not helping Wine, but instead making sure that Wine stays both free software and free for you to fold into proprietary products.
-Dave