Re: Question about Cocoa/Gnustep

[Gregory John Casamento]

--- CM <c.mench@adilinstruments.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> 
>     I've just one question. OpenStep specification is open and
> Gnustep implements it. What about all modifications that Apple
> made afterwards for Cocoa, can they legally be integrated in
> Gnustep, or is Gnustep condamned to diverge because it would
> not be allowed to add the new NS* cocoa classes ?
> 
>     best regards.

There is much precedent in both US and European court decisions which state
that an API (like Cocoa, Win32, DOS, etc, etc) cannot be copyrighted.  A
specific implementation of it can, but not the API itself.   What this means is
that any API published by any company can be legally implemented by someone
else provided that the implementation is an original one.

For instance, Digital Research created a DOS clone called DR-DOS without any
kind of license from MS, because none was necessary (due to the aforementioned
precedents).  FreeDOS also did the same thing with DOS as does Wine with the
Win32 API, and OpenBEOS with BeOS and AROS with AmigaOS, etc, etc, etc.

The answer to your question is that GNUstep is legally free to implement any
and all APIs published by Apple just as other projects (FreeDOS and Wine, et
al.) are free to implement any and all APIs published by the respective
companies whose operating systems they are cloning, even though such APIs were
never published as an 'open' specification.

Thanks, GJC

=====
Gregory John Casamento -- CEO/President Open Logic Corp.


        
                
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