[plug] KDE licence (was Debian was Mandrake)

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Mon, 28 Feb 2000, russ wrote:
> Greg Mildenhall wrote:
> > > Then this section specifically exempts QT from that saying you may have
> > > a GPL program and link in QT.
> > No, it doesn't. It says that if you choose not to license your code under
> > the GPL, but under a license that is similar to the GPL but specifically
> > modified to allow such linking, then you are fine. This should seem
> Yes it does. I quote once again from the GNU license page:
> "However, if you have written a program that uses Qt, and you want to
> release your program under the GNU GPL, you can easily do that. "
IF. YOU. HAVE. WRITTEN.
They _did_not_write_the_code_ so this does not apply to them.

> I don't see any ambiguity in that statement. It clearly says you can
> release GPL code which links in QT. Seems pretty clear. It doesn't say
> anything about a license similar to GPL it says GNU GPL.

OK, the text from http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html
one final time.
# You can resolve the conflict for your program by adding a notice like
# this to it: 
#        As a special exception, you have permission to link this program
#        with the Qt library and distribute executables, as long as you
#        follow the requirements of the GNU GPL in regard to all of the
#        software in the executable aside from Qt.
# You can do this, legally, if you are the copyright holder for the
# program. Add it in the source files, after the notice that says the
# program is covered by the GNU GPL. 

Where it says "as a special exception", that means the license is no
longer the GPL. It is the GPL _with_special_exceptions_.

> > > The whole GPL seems a bit wishy washy to me. :)
> > The GPL is definitely not wishy washy. It is very firm on the point that
> > you may not link GPLed software to non-GPLed code. What you quoted was not
> > the GPL, anyway, but GNU commentary on how to make a license that was
> > wishy-washy in some respects, but still largely the same as the GPL.
> 
> That's not what they say. It says you can definitely release your own
> GPL code with QT linked in. I still think that's pretty wishy-washy. :)
Of course you can do it, but not under the GPL. They explicitly say that
you need to add an exception to the licenseing terms. It is no longer the
GPL.

-Greg