Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 09:25:45 -0600 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: "Thomas M. Sommers" <tms2@mail.ptd.net> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSD, .Net comments - any reponse to this reasoning? Message-ID: <3B41E3F9.53F9EEC6@softweyr.com> References: <20010630174743.A85268@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010630173455.T344@teleport.com> <20010701032900.A93049@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010701132353.W344@teleport.com> <20010702152649.A18127@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010702180222.A2667@hades.hell.gr> <3B412280.ED210541@mail.ptd.net>
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"Thomas M. Sommers" wrote:
>
> There seems to be a hidden clause in the GPL, that requires anyone who
> incorporates any GNU code in their program, or uses any GNU code to
> build their program, or ships any GNU code with their program, to call
> their program "GNU <something or other>". How long before Stallman
> starts talking about "GNU FreeBSD"?
There is no such clause in the GPL, and there is an explicit disclaimer on
code produced by GCC. Comments like this are really not helpful; no knee-
jerk reaction ever is.
XEmacs is a somewhat customized version of GNU Emacs, reusing a lot of code
written for GNU Emacs. If you don't understand the concept of "derived work",
I'm certain there are a number of books and or web sites that can explain the
concept to you. XEmacs is a work derived from GNU Emacs, while FreeBSD is
not derived from GNU code.
FreeBSD is shipped with a number of GNU tools because they are good, working
tools that FreeBSD users and developers find useful and necessary. It is
quite possible (and relatively simple) to produce a minimal running FreeBSD
system that includes no GNU (or other GPL) code, which is needed by the
embedded companies that are a significant part of the FreeBSD community.
These companies typically use GNU tools, GCC, GAS, etc., to build their
software, and quite often use other GNU tools like Emacs or XEmacs as well.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
wes@softweyr.com http://softweyr.com/
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