GPLv3 FAQ question
Matt Molyneaux at 2015-06-12T17:30:16Z
I'm reading the GPLv3 for a blog post I'm writing, and I'm a bit puzzled by something I found in the GPL FAQ:
You may not distribute these libraries in compiled DLL form with the program. To prevent unscrupulous distributors from trying to use the System Library exception as a loophole, the GPL says that libraries can only qualify as System Libraries as long as they're not distributed with the program itself.
( GNU/GPL )
The problem is that I can't see where the GPLv3 states this. I can see where it defines Sytem Libraries, but not where it says I can't distribute them with a GPL'd work - assuming they're not licensed under a GPLv3 compatible licence.
Thoughts?
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However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.
Presumably that's what the FAQ is referring to. GPLv3 says:
A separable portion of the object code, whose source code is excluded from the Corresponding Source as a System Library, need not be included in conveying the object code work.
That does seem counter to the FAQ, interesting. http://copyleft.org/guide/monolithic/#x1-730009.3.3 explains the change but I don't think I understand the result.
Does http://gpl.guide/gplv3-system-lib help at all? If not, patches welcome. :)
Bradley M. Kuhn at 2015-06-12T21:23:49Z
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