From: Peter Bortas <peter@idonex.se>
  To  : ggi-develop@eskimo.com
  Date: 05 Mar 1999 17:29:27 +0100

Re: fbcon-kgi.c licensing problem

"David Waite" <mass@ufl.edu> writes:

> Defining 'linking' one way or another, you could say that it is impossible
> to release a windows program under GPL , it is impossible to release a java
> program under GPL, it is legal to distribute a Motif-using program under GPL
> but illegal to run or compile it on Redhat except with lesstif. It is also
> illegal for any java class to be put under GPL, since it is actually a
> 'linker', and each instruction calls 'non- GPL code' in the base class
> libraries.
> 
> Shoot, if you want to make a far-out case for it, you could say that any
> GPLd program run on an x86 is illegal because they are compiled around
> intel's non-GPL'd microcode instructions. Linking on the instruction level.

No. According to GPL you may link GPL'ed code with system libraries. So
if Red Hat comes with Motif, you may link with it. If it does not, you
may not.

-- 
Peter Bortas                   http://peter.bortas.org
Idonex AB                      http://www.idonex.com