[Tutor] Regarding licensing GPL terms
Kent Johnson
kent37 at tds.net
Wed Jan 31 12:08:23 CET 2007
Anup Rao wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am writing an application that uses a python libary (a *.so file)
> generated using SWIG.
> This library makes direct system calls to the Linux kernel.
> This raises three questions.
>
> a> Does this mean that the library must be distributed under GPL terms?
I don't think so. I believe Linux has a library exception to the GPL
that permits linking against it, though I can't find a reference to this
at the moment.
>
> b> Can I distribute it as LGPL?
I think so.
>
> c> Also, does any python script that uses this module have to be
> distributed under GPL , LGPL, or is the PSF license sufficient?
> My preference would be the PSF but I am not sure if it is ok.
The PSF itself discourages using the PSF license for non-PSF code. You
should probably consider a BSD or MIT license if you want something more
liberal than LGPL.
I am not a lawyer and I could be wrong!
Kent
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