Who am I to argue with you over KDE licensing? :)
But while I know TrollTech wouldn't do anything, technically I'm pretty sure I'm correct.
The problem isn't linking a GPL'd program against an LGPL library (which is fine for two reasons, in this case glibc is a 'system library', and secondly the LGPL has a 'under the terms of this license, OR the GPL' clause.. so when included in a GPL'd program it's automatically GPL'd)...
The problem is linking a LGPL'd library against a GPL'd library. Eg, in this case kdelibs (LGPL'd) is linked against a GPL'd library.
In your example ProgramX (GPL'd) was linked against a LGPL'd library. Completely different cases.
I'm not a lawyer and all that, but the way I read it, you simply cannot link in that direction. Expecially statically linking, as that makes kdelibs a derivitive work of QT. Which means kdelibs must adapt the GPL. Clause 3 of the LGPL would thus cause kdelibs to revert to the GPL, not the LGPL.
Hence why I was so confused about which license it was under.
Now, this isn't a bad thing for kdelibs - reverting to the GPL means nothing important... but it thus creates a condition where anything using a LGPL->GPL'd reverted library (which is every library in kdelibs, pretty much, as I'm fairly sure they all use QT headers) must also be GPLed. Thus non-GPL'd kde apps are illegal.
Confusing, isn't it? :) And this conversation is getting pretty OT, so we should probably dump it from the list.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way it reads to my sleep-deprived mind. I know nobody will enforce it, but it does create an intresting conflict which could have numerous ramifications (if I am correct).. such as KDE not being included in Debian again (*cry*).
- Ender
Basically, KDE and TrollTech are being quite inconsistant. As long as we remove QT dependancy from the khtml/kjs libraries, we can implement it in WINE. As the code currently stands, khtml/kjs (and a bunch of other KDE libraries) are in violation of their own licensing :)
HUH???
When did you look last time at your linux distribution, specifically at the glibc license... yup, it's... LGPL'd... does it means that linking a GPL'd program against LGPL library is illegal? nope, it's very legal..
Same case here. kdelibs are LGPL'd (some with artistic license, some with BSD license, etc) are ALLOWED to be linked to GPL'd program, which is also what QT is - a GPL (and QPL) license.
Do you think that TrollTech wouldn't do anything if it was illegal? after all, the KDE is their number 1 "customer" ;)
Thanks, Hetz