RE: RC197 online

For feature requests and bug reports RC15 RC16. Please use the forum at http://forum.ultravnc.net/

Rudi,

I'm afraid I don't understand your comment about the Holy Grail.

As I understand it, the GPL is a licence intended to encourage people to
share the source code of their programs.  Part of ensuring this involves
stipulating clearly that it is NOT acceptable for someone else to basically
say "I don't like the GPL, so I'll use your code in my program but it won't
be GPL", which seems to be what you're suggesting.

The issue with the connect.c code has absolutely nothing to do with patents,
it's to do with copyright.  You read the code and wrote code based on it,
meaning that the code you wrote is "derived" from it, and J. Grant and
Shun-ichi Goto have copyright claims on it, preventing you from releasing it
under a non-GPL licence without their permission.  If you had developed
equivalent code without basing it on theirs (or anyone elses), this would
obviously not be an issue.

Whether or not a work is derived from another cannot be defined simply in
terms of whether or not things link against it via shared memory, I'm
afraid!  (Even the reference you cite doesn't say that it can, actually...)

Cheers,

Wez @ RealVNC Ltd.


> James, GPL is not the Holy Grail but a manner of making nice 
> software together.
> GPL is never intent to block development, but to improve it.
> Answers.
> 
> **"Otherwise people would copy the way a GPL function worked
> but format it in their own style and then claim copyright, 
> which is clearly
> nonsense!"**
> You can, GPL does not cover the functionality of a function 
> nor does it
> implement the functionality of a program.  Even for 
> commercial programs
> you can not claim that you own the functionalty.
> SOFTWARE PATENTS DOES NOT EXIST
> European law thanks http://thankpoland.info/
> 
> **"The combined installer is clearly a "derived work"
> in that it contains GPL code, whereas separate installers 
> could be placed on
> the same CD or website and that would be "mere aggregation" 
> and not cause
> the GPL to apply to the other installers, for example"**
> 
> I disagree, a combined installer is an aggregation and not a 
> derived work.
> A combined work need be linked, static/dynamic via share 
> memory ,what is clearly
> not the case for an installer. You can not find any 
> functionality from vnc in the installer.
> Check "combined product"
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation
> 
> For the repeater, i never claimed it would not be released as GPL.
> I only wanted to make a point that "if i replace the used functions
> from connect.c" i can do what i want with the code. Possible this is
> done in V1.02 and GPL license replaced by BSD or something else.
> 
> 
> 
> Now i spend some time again on this issue, instead of bug fixing.
> 1 day longer for preparing the code.
> 
> This is my personal opinion, not the UltraVnc Team
> members opinion.
> Rudi De Vos



-------------------------------------------------------
SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users.
Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now.
http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396&op=click