Can Java code EVER be GPLd, at all?

[Arandir]

On Sat, 13 Nov 1999, Mark Wells wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Nov 1999, Justin Wells wrote:

> > That simple statement ignores the huge thorny complexity that Java 
> > introduces by being runtime linked.
> 
> It's no worse than dynamic linking of C programs.  Someone needs to come
> up with an interpretation or revision of the GPL that covers the runtime
> linking issue.

Basically, someone needs to decide if restrictions on derivations and 
modifications should be applied to users who have no idea that they're
deriving or modifying the java code.

---
"Fred! What are you doing!"
"I'm just running this cool applet I found"
"Fool! Don't you know what you're doing?"
"No, what?"
"You're illegally linking those GPL classes"
---

I would draw the nice and easy line that if you're using software in the normal
manner in which it is intended, and not accessing the source code in any way,
then it counts as "use", and not covered by the GPL. Of course, that's just my
opinion.

-- 
Arandir...
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