Re: Using a script licensed under GPL in an application licensed under a license that's not compatible with GPL

[Barry Margolin]

In article <0ImdnSKMK7z5WB3YnZ2dnUVZ_uvinZ2d@comcast.com>,
 Geico Caveman <spam@spam.invalid> wrote:

> observatory@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > My application consists of a collection of scripts (full source
> > distributed) licensed under a license that I'll call A.
> > I want to distribute with my application, the source version of a
> > script licensed under GPL. This script (source) will be imported and
> > used at runtime by my application.
> > 
> > Is this allowed when license A is not compatible with GPL ?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Andrei
> 
> No. You will have to provide the source code for all your scripts if you
> include the GPL'ed script and bundle it with yours. Further, you will have
> to release the source under at least the same GPL version, if not later.
> 
> You could avoid this by merely linking against the script (and not
> distributing it under license A) but that presumes that an LGPL version of
> the script is available.

What does it mean to "link against" a script?  Linking is something you 
do with compiled programs, not scripts.

Anyway, it's possible that a case could be made tha his original plan 
would fall under the GPL's "mere aggregation" clause, which allows 
programs with different licenses to be distributed together with GPL 
programs.

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
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