A new GCC runtime library license snag?

The saga of the GCC runtime library has been covered here a couple of times in the past. The library's license is a legal hack which tries to accomplish a set of seemingly conflicting goals. The GCC runtime library (needed by almost all GCC-compiled programs) is licensed under GPLv3; that notwithstanding, the Free Software Foundation wants this library to be usable by proprietary programs - but only if no proprietary GCC plugins have been used in the compilation process. The runtime library exception published by the FSF appears to have accomplished those objectives. But now it seems that, perhaps, the GCC runtime licensing has put distributors into a difficult position; click below (subscribers only) for the full story.

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