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Q: Using GNU Autoconf/Automake with proprietary software projects
- To: linux-il(at-nospam)linux.org.il
- Subject: Q: Using GNU Autoconf/Automake with proprietary software projects
- From: Shlomi Fish <shlomif(at-nospam)techst02.technion.ac.il>
- Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 13:09:43 +0300 (IDT)
- Delivered-To: linux.org.il-linux-il@linux.org.il
- Sender: linux-il-bounce(at-nospam)cs.huji.ac.il
As you may well know, GNU Autoconf and Automake are distributed under the
GPL, which means that all the autoconf m4 macros and Bournme shell source
code is also GPLed. At least from what I could see by examining the files.
So, the question is whether it is legally possible to use autoconf for
properiatary software, provided one does not one to expose his build tree.
I have seen autoconf used by a properiatary product (MySQL before it
was GPLed), but in that case it was a sourceware product, which was
distributed with its source. I don't know what was the license of the
source files that could see the autoconf code, but since the source code
was available, it did not matter much to make them under a very
open-source license.
Naturally, autoconf can compile proprietary code because make and the
shell only invoke the compiler on the source code and do not link against
it. However, if I write a "configure.in" script - must it be distributed
under a GPL compatible license?
I noticed that some of the files that were generated in one of my own
projects (whose license is compatible with the GPL) carried a "this is
free software" header. They did not say that they were distributed under
the "GNU General Public License", but they did not say otherwise either.
So, can anybody knowledgable in the intricates of the GPL and autoconf,
enlighten me?
Regards,
Shlomi Fish
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish shlomif@t2.technion.ac.il
Home Page: http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
Home E-mail: shlomif@techie.com
A more experienced programmer does not make less bugs. He just realizes
what went wrong more quickly.
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