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Re: Simple question
- From: Florian Weimer <fw at deneb dot enyo dot de>
- To: "Byron Blue" <byron at maqsonar dot com>
- Cc: <gcc-help at gcc dot gnu dot org>
- Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:33:58 +0200
- Subject: Re: Simple question
- References: <7D3F997945FA4AEAA34010AAEFFD4335@Byron>
* Byron Blue:
> This is the question:
> GCC uses the GNU license scheme. This operating system would be
> embedding in our industrial computers and I do not (of course) want
> the source code for our operating system to be open source - available
> to our competitors. The GNU site is not quite clear in this area and
> being new I would not want to "break the rules". Could I ask you for a
> bit of clarification on this issue?
Unless you take special precautions, GCC copies parts of itself into
compiled executables. The compiled executables must therefore be
licensed in a way that is compatible with the GPL. However, there is
an exception for many parts which can be copied in this way. This
exception comes with a set of complex conditions:
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gcc-exception-3.1.html>
Whether these exceptions apply in your case is hard to tell. It is
unlikely that professional legal advice could give you a definitive
answer, either.
I'll ask the FSF to update the link Ian posted.