RE: Installshield 6 (inter-proc) patches

[Patrik Stridvall]

> On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, Patrik Stridvall wrote:
> > > Note that I said "_small_ improvements" because of the 
> > > modular nature of Wine. If the improvements are big, the DLL
> > > separation would allow them to keep those changes proprietary.
> >
> > I don't think small improvements is a problem anyway and 
> > beginning an implementation of say DCOM is probaly not a
> > small improvement and DirectX certainly isn't.
>
> But if it's not, it's within a small constant factor to 
> replace the rest
> with prorietary code and not release anything. See, if the 
> DLL is mostly
> implemented, the changes are not that big, so they should be 
> contributed
> back. If the DLL is mostly stubs, just rewrite the entire 
> thing, you're
> not wasting that much effort in the first place, and you can choose
> whatever licence you want. DirectX and DCOM fall in this cathegory.

I have use the Crypto API as an example several times that to illustrate
that the DLL:s isn't a relevant protection boundary for the LGPL,
even Alexandre seems to accept this.

In any case if the DLL is mostly implemented there is very little
reason for a company to try to enter the market, it is simply to
dangerous, so I don't see the problem.
> > > I fail to see _any_ moral/ethical/philosophical problem with 
> > > this. Do you?
> >
> > Perhaps you have been more enlightend now.
>
> Focusing on obscure issues only is anything but enlightening. :)

Well, the concrete issues like do we scare potential companies
that wants to help way quite hard to argue about in a objective
way and I do not really like subjective arguments.

I leave them to for example Gavriels that IMHO has done a good 
good job at that.

I have been trying to approach the problem from the other side,
that the LGPL doesn't provide much protection at all.