Re: On licences and projects (was [XaraXtreme-dev] Re: Success)

[Alex Bligh <alex@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

--On 13 June 2006 13:48 +0100 Ben Fowler <ben.the.mole@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Well, I have posted several weeks ago on the GPL and made a promise to
> myself that I would not do so again, so I am simply responding out of
> courtesy and if you need to, you will have the last word on this. I am
> quite happy to use, say, the GPL; and to observe the terms of any
> other licences that are needful.

I don't want to get into a long conversation about the GPL either, but
this is the position (AIUI):

* The GPL allows linking to LGPL libraries anyway. For instance, all the
 GPL GNU tools (like grep) link to glibc, which is LGPL.

* In any case, the main Camelot code is GPL with a specific exception (it
 is more liberal than the GPL) - this is permitted under the GPL, you
 are allowed to give users additional rights. One such additional right
 specifically allowed was the right to link to certain libraries. See
 LICENSE.txt for more information. In case there was any doubt, this
 should dispel it.

* The reason why (in license terms) wxXtra is separate (there are very
 good reasons in technical terms too as you've found out) is not because
 of worries about a GPL breach in the main Camelot code, but because
 the wxWidgets code from which wxXtra is (in the main derived) is

 a) wxWidgets license - so cannot be relicensed under the Camelot
    "GPL with exception license"
 b) Not joint copyright with Xara (as the authors have not signed
    contribution agreements)

 It can still be /used/ though, as the wxWidgets license permits linking
 to anything under any license (essentially).


However, as you've found out, if you include were to include the
Camelot headers in a wxXtra file, things break. Also, it works
fine as a standalone library. So the best thing is to ensure it
is compiled that way on the Mac (as well as on Linux).

Alex