[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Q: Using GNU Autoconf/Automake with proprietary software projects
- To: Shlomi Fish <shlomif(at-nospam)techst02.technion.ac.il>
- Subject: Re: Q: Using GNU Autoconf/Automake with proprietary software projects
- From: Ely Levy <elylevy(at-nospam)cs.huji.ac.il>
- Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 18:44:35 +0300 (IDT)
- cc: linux-il(at-nospam)linux.org.il
- Delivered-To: linux.org.il-linux-il@linux.org.il
- In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.4.10.10105201257130.1738-100000@techst02.technion.ac.il>
- Sender: linux-il-bounce(at-nospam)cs.huji.ac.il
As written in the autoconf automake manuals they doesnt' require any
special licence to be used they only encourage you to use GPL
in general GPL programs doesn't automaticly GPL the files they make
Ely Levy
System group
Hebrew University
Jerusalem Israel
On Sun, 20 May 2001, Shlomi Fish wrote:
>
> 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.
>
>
> =================================================================
> To unsubscribe, send mail to linux-il-request@linux.org.il with
> the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
> echo unsubscribe | mail linux-il-request@linux.org.il
>
>
=================================================================
To unsubscribe, send mail to linux-il-request@linux.org.il with
the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
echo unsubscribe | mail linux-il-request@linux.org.il