+2001-09-08 Bruno Haible <haible@clisp.cons.org>
+
+ * gettext.texi (Discussions): Rewrote the paragraph about GPL.
+ * nls.texi (Using gettext in own code): Adapt for libintl license
+ change.
+
2001-07-24 Bruno Haible <haible@clisp.cons.org>
* gettext-0.10.39 released.
better achieved by people knowing and loving their own language, and
ready to work together at improving the results they obtain.
-@item Dependencies over the GPL
+@item Dependencies over the GPL or LGPL
-Some people wonder if using GNU @code{gettext} necessarily brings their package
-under the protective wing of the GNU General Public License, when they
-do not want to make their program free, or want other kinds of freedom.
-The simplest answer is yes.
+Some people wonder if using GNU @code{gettext} necessarily brings their
+package under the protective wing of the GNU General Public License or
+the GNU Library General Public License, when they do not want to make
+their program free, or want other kinds of freedom. The simplest
+answer is ``normally not''.
+
+The GNU @code{gettext} library, i.e. the contents of @code{libintl},
+is covered by the GNU Library General Public License. The rest of
+the GNU @code{gettext} package is covered by the GNU General Public
+License.
The mere marking of localizable strings in a package, or conditional
inclusion of a few lines for initialization, is not really including
-GPL'ed code. However, the localization routines themselves are under
-the GPL and would bring the remainder of the package under the GPL
-if they were distributed with it. So, I presume that, for those
-for which this is a problem, it could be circumvented by letting to
-the end installers the burden of assembling a package prepared for
-localization, but not providing the localization routines themselves.
+GPL'ed or LGPL'ed code. However, since the localization routines in
+@code{libintl} are under the LGPL, the LGPL needs to be considered.
+It gives the right to distribute the complete unmodified source of
+@code{libintl} even with non-free programs. It also gives the right
+to use @code{libintl} as a shared library, even for non-free programs.
+But it gives the right to use @code{libintl} as a static library or
+to incorporate @code{libintl} into another library only to free
+software.
@end itemize
@node Using gettext in own code
@section Using @code{gettext} in new packages
-If you are writing a freely available program and want to
-internationalize it you are welcome to use GNU @file{gettext} in your
-package. Of course the GNU General Public License applies to your sources
-from then on if you include @code{gettext} directly in your distribution but
-since you are writing free software anyway this is no restriction.
+If you are writing a freely available program and want to internationalize
+it you are welcome to use GNU @file{gettext} in your package. Of course
+you have to respect the GNU Library General Public License which covers
+the use of the GNU @file{gettext} library. This means in particular that
+even non-free programs can use @code{libintl} as a shared library, whereas
+only free software can use @code{libintl} as a static library or use
+modified versions of @code{libintl}.
Once the sources are changed appropriately and the setup can handle to
use of @code{gettext} the only thing missing are the translations. The
#
# This file can be copied and used freely without restrictions. It can
# be used in projects which are not available under the GNU General Public
-# License but which still want to provide support for the GNU gettext
-# functionality.
-# Please note that the actual code of GNU gettext is covered by the GNU
-# General Public License and is *not* in the public domain.
+# License or the GNU Library General Public License but which still want
+# to provide support for the GNU gettext functionality.
+# Please note that the actual code of the GNU gettext library is covered
+# by the GNU Library General Public License, and the rest of the GNU
+# gettext package package is covered by the GNU General Public License.
+# They are *not* in the public domain.
# serial 10
#
# This file can be copied and used freely without restrictions. It can
# be used in projects which are not available under the GNU General Public
-# License but which still want to provide support for the GNU gettext
-# functionality.
-# Please note that the actual code of GNU gettext is covered by the GNU
-# General Public License and is *not* in the public domain.
+# License or the GNU Library General Public License but which still want
+# to provide support for the GNU gettext functionality.
+# Please note that the actual code of the GNU gettext library is covered
+# by the GNU Library General Public License, and the rest of the GNU
+# gettext package package is covered by the GNU General Public License.
+# They are *not* in the public domain.
# serial 2
#
# This file can be copied and used freely without restrictions. It can
# be used in projects which are not available under the GNU General Public
-# License but which still want to provide support for the GNU gettext
-# functionality.
-# Please note that the actual code of GNU gettext is covered by the GNU
-# General Public License and is *not* in the public domain.
+# License or the GNU Library General Public License but which still want
+# to provide support for the GNU gettext functionality.
+# Please note that the actual code of the GNU gettext library is covered
+# by the GNU Library General Public License, and the rest of the GNU
+# gettext package package is covered by the GNU General Public License.
+# They are *not* in the public domain.
# serial 2
projects / thirdparty / gettext.git / commitdiff
