[Mono-list] The viral license problem (was System.CodeDom.Compiler licensing issues)

[Brad Wilson]

Daniel Carrera wrote:

> Yes, but the GPL is not any more "viral" than a license from Microsoft
> which limits your ability to use their code (e.g. their shared source
> license).

I disagree. The Microsoft license says you can't use their stuff for
commercial use, but it makes no additional requirements of any code that
links to them. The GPL says that by merely linking, you now must make your
own code GPL. That is specifically the problem in discussion here.

> This is why the GPL is almost never used for libraries.  Under Linux,
> libraries are usually LGPL or X11.  That way linking is allowed.

Right. And the problem is that the line beteween executable (C# compiler)
and library (System.CodeDOM) is blurred now. The compiler is GPL, not LGPL.

> I can't think of a single library that has this GPL problem you describe.

Until now, potentially...

Brad

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