bug#57399: closed (etiquette / GPL question)

[GNU bug Tracking System]

Your message dated Thu, 25 Aug 2022 10:21:09 -0500
with message-id <16f92bec-c123-1114-256b-e470ff1c5735@cs.ucla.edu>
and subject line Re: bug#57399: etiquette / GPL question
has caused the debbugs.gnu.org bug report #57399,
regarding etiquette / GPL question
to be marked as done.

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57399: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=57399
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> --- Begin Message ---
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> Subject: 
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> etiquette / GPL question
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>
>
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> Date: 
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> Wed, 24 Aug 2022 23:55:17 -0400 (EDT)
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> User-agent: 
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> Alpine 2.22 (DEB 394 2020-01-19)
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>
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm preparing a publication about a software tool (call it the "Munger"), 
> and I would like to use GNU grep as an example of how the Munger can be 
> used.
>
> I'm writing to ask how to address the requirements of GPL in the context 
> of my somewhat unusual undertaking.  I want to obey the letter & spirit of 
> the GPL and to avoid annoying the GNU grep maintainers.  I also want to 
> keep things as simple as possible and minimize fuss & rigmarole for my 
> readers.  There might be a tension between these goals.
>
> In the absence of any legal or etiquette requirements whatsoever, the 
> simplest thing I could do is:
>
> (Plan Zero)  Write a little shell script that (a) downloads the grep-3.7 
> tarball, (b) unpacks it, (c) applies a small patch to a single .c source 
> file, which adds roughly ten new lines of code, (d) builds the grep 
> executable by calling ./configure, make, and make check, (e) applies my 
> stand-alone general-purpose Munger tool to the grep executable, and (f) 
> runs the resulting "munged" executable to show how my Munger tool changes 
> the behavior of grep.
>
> I'm happy to apply GPL to the script described above.  My reading of GPL 
> is that a stand-alone general-purpose tool like my Munger need not be 
> GPL'd merely because it touches the grep executable.  (I might apply a GNU 
> license such as Affero to the Munger tool anyway; I haven't decided yet.)
>
> I'd also be happy to arrange for the patch applied in step (c) above to 
> insert a notice that the affected .c source file has been modified.
>
> I'd like to avoid having to distribute a large volume of material, e.g., a 
> tarball that is nearly identical to the official grep-3.7 tarball.  The 
> Plan Zero approach sketched above --- a small script that applies a small 
> patch --- achieves this goal.
>
> I'd also like to minimize the changes to the official grep distribution. 
> If you insist, my script could patch several files (such as README, 
> AUTHORS, INSTALL, etc.) to insert notices that one file of the original 
> source has been modified.  This seems like overkill to me, and it feels 
> like a tail wagging a dog.  Again, the only change I'm making is adding 
> roughly ten lines of code to a single source file.
>
> I don't want to require my readers to use git or its hub, for three 
> reasons:  Lately FSF has been discouraging Free Software developers from 
> using GitHub, I don't like git, and a substantial fraction of my readers 
> don't like and/or can't use git.
>
> Please let me know how I might accomplish my purpose without offending 
> you.  And thanks for writing and maintaining GNU grep, which I have used 
> every working day of my life for the past thirty years.
>
> Thank you.
>
> -- Terence Kelly
>
>
>
>
> --- End Message ---
> --- Begin Message ---
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>
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> Subject: 
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> Re: bug#57399: etiquette / GPL question
>
>
>
>
> Date: 
>
> Thu, 25 Aug 2022 10:21:09 -0500
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>
>
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> User-agent: 
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> Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/91.11.0
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>
>
>
> On 8/24/22 22:55, Terence Kelly wrote:
> > (Plan Zero)  Write a little shell script that (a) downloads the 
> > grep-3.7 tarball, (b) unpacks it, (c) applies a small patch to a 
> > single .c source file, which adds roughly ten new lines of code, (d) 
> > builds the grep executable by calling ./configure, make, and make 
> > check, (e) applies my stand-alone general-purpose Munger tool to the 
> > grep executable, and (f) runs the resulting "munged" executable to 
> > show how my Munger tool changes the behavior of grep.
> >
> > I'm happy to apply GPL to the script described above.  My reading of 
> > GPL is that a stand-alone general-purpose tool like my Munger need not 
> > be GPL'd merely because it touches the grep executable. (I might apply 
> > a GNU license such as Affero to the Munger tool anyway; I haven't 
> > decided yet.)
> >
> > I'd also be happy to arrange for the patch applied in step (c) above 
> > to insert a notice that the affected .c source file has been modified. 
>
> This all sounds good. One little thing: the step (3) notice must contain 
> a relevant date, as per GPL section 5(a).
>
> Thanks for asking about this.
>
>
>
> --- End Message ---