Re: source code database

[gnat-dev at buzco dot nyct dot net]

On 03-11-04 09:40:01, Robert Dewar wrote:
| Mathieu said

| > A bit of googling showed that the topic of dumping internal compiler
| > information into a database is pretty controversial.

| Incidentally, the GNAT compiler does have a capability for dumping internal
| trees with full semantic information (this is the -gnatt switch, and it is
| essential for implementation of ASIS). Theoretically, it would indeed be
| possible to build a code generator that operated from this tree. A jury
| would have to decide if that was or was not a violation of the GPL (it is
| not at all the case that the decision to use an intermediate file somehow
| automatically insulates you from GPL conformance problems, so no one should
| make that assumption).

As I understand the +intent+ of the GPL, using the -gnatt switch does
not change anything w/ regard to licenses. If the source code used to
build the tree is GPLed, then so is the output; if not, then neither is
the output. I would regard it as just another form of compiling, not
really different from generating ASM code, for instance.

[ SNIP ]

| Robert Dewar
=== End quoted text ===

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