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From: "lhall AT pop DOT ma DOT ultranet DOT com" <lhall AT pop DOT ma DOT ultranet DOT com>
To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com, jesmith AT kaon DOT com
Subject: Re: License Question
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 11:23:38 -0400
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Yes, Chris has spoken on this subject before, although it is not his 
favorite passtime. ;-)  Clearly, the answer to your question comes down
to an interpretation of the GPL.  As strange as it seems, the answer is 
also outside the scope of this mailing list.  It's a legal question that's
best answered by a lawyer.  Since this list isn't in the habit of providing
legal consul, any input from here, including input from Chris, should not 
be misconstrued as a legal advise.  However, if you read the GPL carefully, 
I think you will note that it mentions that the GPL would extend to your 
program since it relies on the GPL'd components to work.   This clearly 
indicates (to me at least) that you would need to distribute the source to 
your program along with Cygwin and the MPEG-1 encoder.   If this is 
not an option for you, see <http://cygwin.com/licensing.html> for
information
on alternative Cygwin licensing which you can buy that allows you to 
distribute the Cygwin binary *without* source.  This alternate licensing,
of course, would not affect the terms of the Berkeley license for the 
MPEG-1 encoder you need though.

So there's an opinion, if that's what you were looking for.  It's not 
worth any more than your own in this matter though since I'm not a lawyer.  
If it's important for you to understand all the legal ramifications of the 
GPL in this case, I suggest you consult one.

HTH,

Larry


Original Message:
-----------------
From: Christopher Faylor cgf-cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 09:42:20 -0400
To: jesmith AT kaon DOT com, cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: License Question


Please check out the project web page for links to available information
and ports:  http://cygwin.com/ .

If you don't see what you need there, then the cygwin mailing list is
the best place to make observations or get questions answered.
Information on the mailing list is available at the project web page.

For your convenience, I've reset the Reply-To: address to point to the
cygwin mailing list.  I've also Cc'ed this reply there.

On Mon, Apr 28, 2003 at 09:32:07AM -0400, Joshua Smith wrote:
>Mr Faylor,
>
>Judging from what I've read on the gmane.org site, you seem to be the 
>right person to send this question to.  If you are not, I apologize, 
>and would appreciate a pointer to the right person.
>
>We are developing a software product which needs an MPEG-1 encoder.  
>The one written by Berkeley in the mid '90s is sufficient for our 
>needs, and it is offered under the usual Berkeley license.  However, it 
>is written for Unix platforms, and I can port using cygwin in about 2 
>minutes, or I could port to MS C++ in about 2 weeks.  Obviously, the 
>cygwin choice is more appealing!
>
>Clearly, I can put together a zip with the cygwin src and the berkeley 
>src, and comply with the terms of the licenses.  However, what is not 
>quite clear to me is whether I would need to include the source of our 
>software product as well.  Our product will not be "linking" to this 
>software.  Rather, it will invoke it as a separate executable.  The 
>things which muddy the water (at least in my mind) are:
>
>1) We would be redistributing the cygwin and berkeley software as part 
>of our installer,
>2) Our software would not be functional without this component
>
>In my gut, the difference between "linking" to a program and 
>"executing" a program seems like a pretty trivial distinction.  
>However, my reading of the license leaves me thinking that this 
>distinction *is* important.
>
>Can you clarify?
>
>-Joshua Smith
> CTO/Alpha Geek
> jesmith AT kaon DOT com
> Kaon Interactive Inc.
> Tel. (978) 823-0111 x111
>
> www.kaon.com
>
>Kaon.  Changing Product Communication.

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