Re: Binary Differencer/Patcher for OS X?
Re: Binary Differencer/Patcher for OS X?
- Subject: Re: Binary Differencer/Patcher for OS X?
- From: Sherm Pendley <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2003 01:28:42 -0400
On Thursday, April 10, 2003, at 07:34 PM, Steve Bennett wrote:
Really, I understand the basic concept behind the GPL license,
With all due respect, it doesn't sound to me like you do. No disrespect
intended, but you should go to <www.gnu.org> and read the license for
yourself - it's written in fairly accessible language, as such things
go. If you have access to an attorney, have them look it over.
If you do, you'll quickly discover that the GPL is not what Microsoft
makes it out to be - it's not a malevolent virus that's looking for any
opportunity to sneak into your code and infect it. Only in a very
precisely defined set of circumstances are you required to GPL any code
you've written. There are two situations that are relevant to you, where
you would be required to GPL some of your own code:
1. If you took source code from bdiff and incorporated it into an app of
your own, you'd then have to GPL that app.
2. If you make changes to bdiff, and distribute the modified version,
you have to distribute it under the terms of the GPL.
Simply using a GPL'd program to apply a patch to your own program will
*not* somehow "infect" your program. Using Emacs to edit your code, or
GCC to compile it, does not obligate you to GPL your app, and there's no
logical reason to believe that using a GPL'd patch utility would be any
different.
but making GPL software completely unusable for commercial projects is
bloody annoying.
If that were true, OS X would not exist. The entire OS is built using
GCC - a GPL'd compiler. Except for a few ASM bits, that is, that are
built using GAS - a GPL'd assembler. Cocoa and Carbon apps built using
Project Builder are likewise compiled using GCC.
It's true that Apple is obligated to GPL any changes they make to GCC -
and they have. But, their use of GCC does not in any way affect their
ability to license their own code however they see fit.
sherm--
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