Re: GCC 4.2.2 Status Report

[Joe Buck <Joe dot Buck at synopsys dot COM>]

Joseph S. Myers wrote:
> > Apart from anything else, we are still awaiting new wording for the 
> > various exceptions in use so installed headers and runtime libraries can 
> > be converted

On Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 08:54:08AM -0700, Mark Mitchell wrote:
> Personally, I don't see how that's a problem, as long as the license on
> the files with exceptions is still GPLv2 + <whatever exception was there
> before>.  That's not a change for users.  The files with exceptions
> might not be compatible with GPLv3 by themselves -- but the exception
> allows them to be linked into complete GPLv3 programs, since it allows
> combination with anything.

Mark,

There are no GPLv2-only files in the repository and there never were.  The
license up until this summer was GPLv2 or any later version.  So there
is no issue of license incompatibility.  Any of the files with exceptions
can be linked with GPLv3 code with no problem, and even without an
exception there's no problem.  An external GPLv2-or-any-later-version
front end can also be linked with gcc 4.3 and distributed.

There is only a license incompatibility issue for code that is GPLv2
only (without the "any later version" clause) and the FSF has never
accepted such code.