libstdc++ licensing

[David Edelsohn]

>>>>> linguist-gcc  writes:

L> I was having problems getting a simple IOStreams program to link (still am, but
L> that doesn't matter until I get an answer to this) and I happened to notice
L> that libstdc++ appears to be under the GPL, rather than the LGPL ... which
L> implies to me, since libstdc++ is now the default c++ library for gcc, that any
L> c++ program compiled with gcc must be free software.  Please tell me I'm wrong!

	Okay, you're wrong.

	Did you look at the source files which contain the following
exception:

// As a special exception, you may use this file as part of a free software
// library without restriction.  Specifically, if other files instantiate
// templates or use macros or inline functions from this file, or you compile
// this file and link it with other files to produce an executable, this
// file does not by itself cause the resulting executable to be covered by
// the GNU General Public License.  This exception does not however
// invalidate any other reasons why the executable file might be covered by
// the GNU General Public License.


David