[PD] gpl vs creative commons

Hans-Christoph Steiner hans at eds.org
Tue Jan 29 00:06:26 CET 2008


On Jan 28, 2008, at 1:23 PM, marius schebella wrote:

> Hans-Christoph Steiner wrote:
>> On Jan 28, 2008, at 3:45 AM, Frank Barknecht wrote:
>>> Hallo,
>>> Damian Stewart hat gesagt: // Damian Stewart wrote:
>>>
>>>> then there's the question of whether any and all Pd patches are   
>>>> 'derived
>>>> works' (derived from Pd) or '[a combination of] two modules into  
>>>> one
>>>> program' and therefore need to be GPL.
>>> Pd isn't GPL, so even if patches were derived from it, you'd be fine
>>> in that regard.
>> Most externals are GPL'ed (and therefore Pd-extended too), so  
>> there  you have to watch.
>
> does this mean it makes a difference if I use a library from within  
> pd-extended or install it myself?

Technically, yes, but in reality, not really.  If someone tried to  
enforce the GPL on you, then you'd just have to make your own custom  
build using the BSD licensed code.

> from my understanding GPL is more restrictive than the Pd license  
> (BSD). because it forces me to publish whatever I create under GPL  
> again.
> does working with a library that is gpl force me to open source my  
> pd patch? is a pd patch a derived software at all? and if yes,  
> which are the libraries that can be used without problems?
> marius.


That's an interesting question.  I think that if you write a patch  
that uses a Pd library that is covered by the GPL, technically, your  
patch is covered by the GPL.  If those libs used the LGPL then you  
would not.  It's a bit of a gray area, but I release all my code  
under the GPL, so I haven't really worried about it.

.hc



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