Simple question

[Georg-Johann Lay]

Florian Weimer schrieb:
> * 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

No, GCC does not "copy parts of itself" into compiled executables.
All code generated by GCC is natively generated and not copied
from somewhere else.

What GCC does is to generate calls to support functions from libgcc.
libgcc is licensed under the GPL but comes with the Runtime Library
Exception (RLE) so that you can link any code against libgcc, even
statically, without turning the final executable to GPL or even
touching the license of your code.

The RLE does not apply if the code must be licensed under GPL for
other reasons, for example because the project uses GPL sources
like the sources of libgcc.

Johann

> 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.