Re: ddraw.h, dinput.h and dsound.h in Cygwin/MinGW

Peter Ekberg wrote:

>Earnie Boyd wrote:
>  
>
>>Alexandre Julliard wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>the LGPL either. What is the problem you see with the LGPL?
>>>      
>>>
>>Because headers are source code and using the headers infects my
>>source code with GPL by default.
>>    
>>
>
>There is a world of difference between the GPL and the LGPL.
>
>  
>
Only for the use of the binary form.  For the source it is exactly as if 
it were GPL.

>With the LGPL you differentiate between works that /use/ and
>works /based/ on the LGPL code. Applications/libraries compiled
>against w32api is /using/ it, they're not /based/ on it. And
>because the content of the header files in question fall into
>this category listed in the LGPL: "numerical parameters, data
>structure layouts and accessors, and small macros and small
>inline functions (ten lines or less in length)", these
>apps/libs that are /using/ the headers are "unrestricted,
>regardless of whether it is legally a derivative work"
>
>  
>
If this were true then why do the libstdc++ maintainers need to put in a 
specific wording to modify the LGPL to allow my use in proprietary 
software?  Headers are source, and including those headers in my source 
are considered a modified work based on the original.  Note the L in the 
LGPL was changed from Library to Lesser for a reason.

>I.e. apps/libs /using/ these LGPL headers are not inheriting
>the LGPL.
>
>Works /based/ on the w32api will be as you say, infected. But
>the remedy for those works is simple enough, they only need to
>remove the LGPL files in question before they make a public
>release.
>  
>
The Cygwin project, which is where this discussion originated, would not 
be able to use the w32api library package without such modification 
because the Cygwin project would require copyright ownership of the 
L/GPL headers before it could use the package.  That is the reason the 
Cygwin package chose to use Newlib instead of GNU version of the C runtime.

The MinGW project would not be able to distribute the w32api library 
without such modification because we publish that proprietary source 
will not be infected with the copyleft L/GPL.

Earnie

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