Simple question
Florian Weimer
fw@deneb.enyo.de
Sat Aug 25 15:57:00 GMT 2012
* 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.
More information about the Gcc-help
mailing list