but there is an exception

Posted Aug 1, 2009 23:14 UTC (Sat) by cas (guest, #52554)
In reply to: but there is an exception by JoeBuck
Parent article: A new GCC runtime library license snag?

> "... unless that component itself accompanies the executable."
> [...]
> RMS wasn't thinking of entirely-free OSes when he wrote that;

easily fixed in a hypothetical GPL v2.1, or in an addition to the git license:

"... unless that component itself accompanies the executable AND is not licensed with a Copyleft-style license such as the GPL v3 or any compatible Free Software license"

or making it a new sentence might make it clearer/less clumsy:

"... unless that component itself accompanies the executable. This exception does not apply if the component is licensed with a Copyleft-style license such as the GPL v3 or any compatible Free Software license".

> Say that the license is GPLv2, except that the phrase "unless that
> component itself accompanies the executable" is considered to be removed.

there's a reason for that exception. it's to prevent people from subverting the intent of the GPL and merging it with proprietary code by claiming that they are merely aggregating the work.