Austin Ziegler
9/22/2003 4:44:00 PM
On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 23:13:57 +0900, Michael Campbell wrote:
>> Cygwin isn't standard Windows. fork() is not available unless you use
>> cygwin, which requires that your programs be GPL-compatible. I don't
>> consider cygwin an acceptable requirement.
> I don't want to start this holy war again, but are you saying that if I
> write a ruby script that uses fork() and thus requires the cygwin build
> to run, it has to be GPL? I'm honestly curious, as I don't understand
> the licensing stuff as well as I should.
That's an interesting question, and I fear that the answer is maybe.
Anything that links against the cygwin DLL must be GPL-compatible, as it is
GPLed (not LGPLed). Ruby itself is dual-licensed with the GPL, so Ruby
doesn't have this problem -- and nominally, programs that are run against
Ruby aren't affected by the licence of Ruby itself. However, your program is
depending on functionality exposed by cygwin (e.g., fork()) and thus
requires that particular binding), so ... does it have to be GPLed? I
honestly don't know.
I suspect not, in this case. However, while I have cygwin for my own
reasons, I wouldn't dare think about requiring anyone to install cygwin just
to run a program of mine. You also have to use the cygwin build of Ruby --
you can't use the Windows Installer version.
-austin
--
austin ziegler * austin@halostatue.ca * Toronto, ON, Canada
software designer * pragmatic programmer * 2003.09.22
* 12.38.46