Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 23:04:35 -0500
From: dj (DJ Delorie)
To: nlin AT alliant DOT backbone DOT uoknor DOT edu
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Subject: Re: (LONG) DJGPP: Can I sell compiled programs?


> Greetings everyone!  I have a licensing question about programs I create
> using DJGPP.  I apologize for the length of this post, but it's
> unfortunately brought about by the length of the GPL.  Put simply, can I
> sell the executable form of programs I compile and link with DJGPP?

Yes.  The only request I make is for you to include in your
documentation information for the customer to get a copy of djgpp for
themselves (i.e. free advertising).

> As for #2, the GPL may affect my rights to my object code, if the source
> code used material from the Library's header files (which is, in practice,
> a practical necessity).  Then, said object code may contain portions of the
> Library, and thus fall under the GPL.  The following section confuses me:

Traditionally, the headers don't count unless you use the *libraries*
that are GPL.  Versions of bison prior to 1.24 invoked the GPL on your
code because it inserted a block of GPL sources into your sources.
1.24 no longer has this restriction.

In djgpp V2, the libc headers are not GPL at all.

> Finally, #3 -- the executable.  It falls under section 6 of the GNU Library
> GPL, correct?  As I understand this section, I can sell or otherwise

Only if you use libgpp.a.  The GPL does not apply to djgpp's other
libraries.

> Does this mean that the upcoming game QUAKE, the successor to DOOM which I
> understand is being written using DJGPP, will include relinkable object
> files?

If it does, that would be only at the whim of the developers.

> Would/could all this legal rigamarole be avoided if DOS/DJGPP provided for
> shared/dynamically linkable libraries?

DJGPP's libraries are not governed by the LGPL, except for libgpp.a
(the G++ class library).