glyph@divmod.com ha scritto:
[...]
Please don't use the phrase "intellectual property".
I wish I didn't even *know* the phrase, but I was quoting Phil Thompson (Riverbank) directly. He wrote:
""" Trolltech will have the same view. As far as they are concerned their intellectual property is the API and it doesn't matter how it is accessed. """
This is probably, as you say, legal nonsense. I don't think Mr. Thompson is a lawyer either, nor is he speaking authoritatively for trolltech's lawyers. But, he is a copyright holder in this case, and therefore entitled to certain outlandish opinions.
It seems they are in good company with MySQL AB: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/internals/en/licensing-notice.html """ The MySQL Protocol is part of the MySQL Database Management System. As such, it falls under the provisions of the GNU Public License (GPL). A copy of the GNU Public License is available on MySQL's web site, and in the product download. Because this is a GPL protocol, any product which uses it to connect to a MySQL server, or to emulate a MySQL server, or to interpose between any client and server which uses the protocol, or for any similar purpose, is also bound by the GPL. Therefore if you use this description to write a program, you must release your program as GPL. """ ;-) Regards Manlio Perillo