Re: More GPL questions

[Alexander Terekhov]

Hey schizophrenic de Weerd, I think that you've been convinced at some 
point that linking doesn't create software derivative works under 
copyright except in the GNU Republic (i.e. under Stallman's copyleft*** 
not copyright, that is). Go take some medicine to end the crisis.

***) As GNU Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda nicely
put it:

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2) Clarifying the GPL
by sterno

One issue that I know has come up for me is how the GPL applies in
situations where I'm using GPL software but I'm not actually
modifying it. For example, I write a Java application, and it is
reliant on a JAR that is GPL'd. Do I then need to GPL my software?
I haven't changed the JAR in anyway, I'm just redistributing it with
my software. The end user could just as easily download the JAR
themselves, it's just a convenience for me to offer it in my package.

Eben:

The language or programming paradigm in use doesn't determine the
rules of compliance, nor does whether the GPL'd code has been modified.
The situation is no different than the one where your code depends on
static or dynamic linking of a GPL'd library, say GNU readline. Your
code, in order to operate, must be combined with the GPL'd code,
forming a new combined work, which under GPL section 2 (b) must be
distributed under the terms of the GPL and only the GPL.
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regards,
alexander.