Re: comparison of public licenses?

On Wed, 26 Jan 2000, Nate Puri <natepuri[_at_]office.ompages.com> wrote:
>
> I understand this, but I wasn't clear about the subject matter of what
> programmers are calling 'derivative.' What I hear most commonly from
> them is not who owns a derivative, but what is a derivative, where the
> purported work is not a merging of code (i.e., where the UNIX 'diff'
> files are merged on a line by line basis with a program that 'patches'
> code, but where the program is 'compiled against' a 'lib' or library of
> code, and the resulting compilation is a new work that depends on two
> separate code bases but is not 'based on' them.

Oh, this is so true.

> I would personally appreciate if someone could clarify the what is
> and is not derivative in regards to code 'linking.' For example,
> to complise the Secure Shell ("SSH"), one needs RSAREF library,
> libc, and the compiler gcc. If I wrote SSH, B wrote libc, C wrote
> gcc, and R wrote RSAREF, what is legal status of the the binary
> module named ssh that could not have been compile without the other
> three dependencies?

I would contend that with software, as with any other copyrightable work, it's status as being derivative is based on whether the expression is derivative, not on technological means of making it run (such as dynamic linking of shared libraries) or out-and-out copyright infringement (static linking of libraries).

If you want to determine whether work B is a derivative work of A, I think you should look at whether, if A did not exist, would B have meaning? So, for example, if you have a standard independent of A defining the interface B uses, B is not dependent on A to provide it with meaning (so writing something using libc calls shouldn't make something derivative of a specific implementation of those functions). However, if the interface specification is dependent on A to give it meaning, then B would be a derivative work of A. For example, I write a library of handy functions and then publish an interface specification, then the specification is dependent on the implementation.

At least that's my take on the subject.

Lynn IANAL Winebarger
<owinebar[_at_]free-expression.org> Received on Thu Jan 27 2000 - 15:52:29 GMT