[bug-gnu-libiconv] Re: libiconv license question

[Bruno Haible]

[CCing the mailing list for questions regarding libiconv.]

Hi,

Hichem Lamouchi wrote:
> I'm currently looking at the libiconv source files and I noticed that
> although the README file mention the LGPL license, the copyright notice in
> some source files in the srclib directory, only mentions GPL.  
> 
> For example, in file:
> 
> srclib/alloca.in.h
> ...
> 
> While in file srclib/streq.h
> ...
> 
> Can you please confirm that  that this disparity is  a bug in the copyright
> notice and that the library license is indeed LGPL. 

The README file (in release 1.12 and newer) states:

  Copyright
  ---------

  The libiconv and libcharset _libraries_ and their header files are under LGPL,
  see file COPYING.LIB.

  The iconv _program_ is under GPL, see file COPYING.

The README file in older releases was incorrect.

The libraries are build from code in the subdirectories
  include/
  lib/
  libcharset/
which are LGPL.

The iconv program is build from that and from code in the
subdirectories
  srclib/
  src/
which makes it a GPLed program.

It is *not* a bug in the copyright notices of the source files. But it
was a bug in the README of libiconv 1.11.1 and older.

Thanks for the question. I appreciate that you take licenses seriously.

Bruno