Fedora Freedom and linux-libre

Les Mikesell lesmikesell at gmail.com
Sun Jun 15 22:13:21 UTC 2008


David Woodhouse wrote:
>> 
> No, I think you've completely missed the point.

The point is whether a derivative work exists, which won't depend on how 
the parts get to their end locations.  If it is a derivative when the 
parts are aggregated for delivery it will be just as much a derivative 
if the parts are delivered separately.

>>> The 'transient combination' is _far_ from being irrelevant. That
>>> combination for distribution is very thing that is not permitted.
>> Aggregations are explicitly permitted.
> 
> Collective works are explicitly not permitted, under some circumstances.

Do do have an exact definition of what is not permitted?  Chunks of data 
carried along for the ride and dropped into separate devices strike me 
as "sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
themselves".  Before getting carried away, can you show how firmware 
would not fit this description?

>>> That's the whole point in the bit in the GPL which goes "...this
>>> License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you
>>> distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute those same
>>> sections as part of a while which a work based on the Program, the
>>> distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License..."


>> I don't really see anything there about details you have to observe to 
>> maintain a separation.  If you want to make some up, go ahead.  Maybe 
>> you can modify the compiler to do it for you.
> 
> I have absolutely no clue what you're trying to say; I'm sorry. This is
> why I stopped responding to you before.

Whatever mechanical translations you can do to something will not change 
its copyright status.  If you make a tar file containing 2 different 
copyrighted works, they are still 2 separate works, but there is nothing 
magic about tar's format that relates to this concept.  Any other way of 
aggregating the bits together would be the same, including having the 
compiler lump the bits in a spot where they can be extracted as cleanly 
as a 'tar -x' would do it.  It is just a different way of mechanical 
aggregation of bits that have nothing to do with each other and are 
separated before use.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com




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