Re: [Freeciv-Dev] qt-Freeciv client !

[Greg Wooledge <wooledge@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Trent Piepho (xyzzy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:

> Even motif aside, the C library on most/all non-GNU systems is completely
> un-free.  When you compile Freeciv on a Sun, you are using non-free headers
> and a non-free C library.

The GPL takes this into account:

  However, as a
  special exception, the source code distributed need not include
  anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
  form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
  operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
  itself accompanies the executable.

Once again, I recommend reading the entire GPL.  It's a worthy investment
of one's time.

And as for Motif -- at the time those programs were written, it could
have been argued that Motif was a "component... of the operating system
on which the executable runs".  But it's certainly a gray area and well
beyond the scope of freeciv-dev.

-- 
Greg Wooledge                    | Distributed.NET http://www.distributed.net/
wooledge@xxxxxxxxxxx             | because a CPU is a terrible thing to waste.
http://www.kellnet.com/wooledge/ |