Re: Meta-Level Compilation project / Introspector/ AST access / Licensing question

[James Michael DuPont <mdupont777 at yahoo dot com>]

With all due respect, I have to get this off my chest:

You might not like what I have to say, but I am losing
my patience. Sort out a fair set of rules and
guidelines that apply to all people young and old,
smart and dump, rich and poor, Professor and hacker,
and then tell the world. 
Dont just pick and choose projects to support based on
favortism and political agenda.

--- Richard Kenner <kenner@vlsi1.ultra.nyu.edu> wrote:
>     I wont mention license and legal if you dont.
>     
>     Then I could again ask if the scripts running
> inside
>     of the compiler would have to be GPL? 
> 
>     Also if there is a problem then from inside the
>     compiler to write the data into a database?
> 
>     Those are valid questions on this list?
> 
> Those sound very much like legal questions to me.

All I can tell is that there is no LEGAL problem with
me doing this, if all my code is licensed under the
GPL, it is not my problem if I used Files, XMLRPC or
shared libs to access the gcc.

Any legal problems are for gcc steering commitee and 
the FSF to worry about.

Sure the gcc coding standards are against shared libs,
scripting languages and all that. But we are in the
year 2002 now, and we have to think ahead. 
Embedding gcc in perl, python, ruby  would be a great
advantage for software developers, making a c++ and c#
interface to the tree nodes and making and XML
interchange format for the tree nodes would be great.

If my code does not included in the main distro, that
is not a problem, we can still maintain compatibility
via CVS and patches.

So what if people can abuse it, people can abuse the
gcc as it is, and you are not interested in helping
the people who want to help you, but help the people
who are out to create non-free tools. That is crazy.

I am not going to be afraid of pushing the technical
limits of the gcc anymore for political reasons. 

All I want is a solid set of guidelines from the gcc
developers, all I get is conflicting statements and
FUD. If you want to give me guidance then do so.
 
What is this list here for if not to discuss the
futher development of the gcc? 

Legal this and legal that, it is not my problem.

I have stated what my intentions are, asked you for
advice, nothing productive is coming out of it. 

There seems to be a bias against the things that I
want to do, even if they are not as dangerous in my
eyes as things that you support. This is inconsistent.

We need a clear set of rules and regulations here, not
just a shoot from the hip on a whim, almost random
behaviour that I have seen.

I have read the mailling lists and seen the same
people who give me flack giving help to projects that
are doing the same thing as me.

I have seen you guys give support to some of the
univeristies that are trying to dump to the GXL
format, and you have not said anything negative to
them.

Also people parsing the tree dumps without any change
is not a problem.

But my project is easy to attack, becuase I am open
about it and telling you want I am doing.

I guess that means that I can do whatever makes sense,
who is going to sue me? For what charges? 
Like I am making money off of this? 

I can see the headlines : Free Software Foundation
sues small time developer for making changes to the
gcc that give the user too much freedom!

Why do I need a lawer? The gcc is under the GPL, So I
can modify it and redistribute it under those terms.
Anything else is just politics and policy.

I want to work with you, but how can I do that? 

I ask for direction and do not get any!

The only reason I have to worry is my work opening the
door for others to abuse the gcc. If your not
interested in talking about it, then I will just
continue along my path.

So that is it for me. The next mail you will get is an
annoucement of where you can download the patched gcc
and the source code for review. No more discussion of
this licensing garbage. 

I have tried to deal with you, asked for advice, 
tried to get direction, I get treated as some
cooporation that is needs to get a lawyer! 

I am 26 years old, I work for this on my free time,
All I want to do is make some cool software and learn
about the gcc, make a difference, be a free software
developer, not get into a legal debate!!!!

Tell Stallman that if he is worried about abuse of the
gcc to remove the tree-dumper and tree-serializer
first before he worries about the introspector
project, they are much more dangerous and are being
abused, not what I am doing!

It is up to you guys to sort out your problems with
licensing, with interfaces and make some clear rules,
not just pushing problems onto would be developers. 

That is not fair!

Until then I am not going to play games here any more,
I am sick and tired of this license discussion as you
are.

Mike

=====
James Michael DuPont

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