Calling GPL code from a Python application

[Ernst Noch]

Heiko Wundram wrote:
> Heiko Wundram wrote:
> 
>>..., unless I convince the
>>people at my univ to _release_ the code I've written under a
>>GPL-compatible open source license itself.
> 
> 
> The can of worms in this is basically that management at my uni doesn't want
> employees to take the software home and release it there, which would be
> allowed if I were to put it under GPL but released it only inhouse.
> 
> --- Heiko.

They can prohibit this. There a various ways how, independent from the 
license. Basically the same way how an employer can prohibit you to 
download any software on your workplace and take it home, even if the 
download was completely legal.

But the simplest reasoning is that the code _you_ have is owned by you 
or probably your university. Therefore making a copy of the complete 
package is illegal for the employees under copyright law unless 
expressly permitted by the license to _your_ code, even if everything 
else is GPL.

And your portion of the code doesn't have to be GPL, because you are not 
distributing it!

Note, this would even work if you weren't "part" of your University, 
because nowhere does the GPL mandate

a) That you have to distribute the software at all
b) To whom you have to distribute the software

That means that your University just can refuse to distribute the 
software to anybody else. And if someone steals the software from them, 
that isn't distribution.