[Python-3000] C API for ints and strings

[Nick Coghlan]

Martin v. Löwis wrote:
> I personally never said what I think of the LGPL. I was merely trying
> to explain what it actually says. FWIW, I quite like both the GPL, and
> the LGPL, and applaud the motivations behind it. That's why I prefer
> to follow it faithfully, and in its spirit, rather than trying to
> weasel-word out of it.

I have to agree with what Martin has said here - the PSF license used 
for the CPython interpreter is designed to give a lot of flexibility to 
embedders and developers using the engine. Preserving the freedom of 
end-users to access the interpreter source code isn't one of the aims of 
the license, so redistributors are free to use whatever license they 
like, and are also free to distribute the software purely in binary form.

The LGPL and GPL have different aims from the PSF license, with a much 
greater focus on preserving freedom for the end-user, so code under 
those licenses doesn't fit in with the licensing model for the base 
CPython distribution. Even though it would be possible for the PSF to do 
what was necessary to make the inclusion of LGPL code legal, the effect 
on the overall licensing model would be a major inconvenience for 
downstream embedders and developers. So rather than trying to skirt the 
letter of the licenses, it makes sense to just obey the spirit and 
accept that this may sometimes prevent us from using code that might 
otherwise be helpful.

In at least one case where this mattered in the past (locale independent 
atoi/atof, if I recall correctly), the author of the relevant code was 
actually kind enough to grant the PSF direct permission to use the code 
under a Python contributor agreement.

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
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