<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 11:43 AM Gil Yehuda via License-discuss <<a href="mailto:license-discuss@lists.opensource.org">license-discuss@lists.opensource.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>First time posting to this group. I hope the subject line got you to read further. I'm not asking for legal advise, but posing a question about a phrase used in AGPL/GPL v3.0 and hoping to get insight on how to interpret it properly. The phrase is "intimate data communication" as found here:</div><div><blockquote style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.5em"><font size="1" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">For example, Corresponding Source includes interface definition files associated with source files for the work, and the source code for shared libraries and dynamically linked subprograms that the work is specifically designed to require, <b>such as by intimate data communication </b>or control flow between those subprograms and other parts of the work.</font></p></div></blockquote><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">When I read this, I interpret <i>intimate data communication</i> as the relationship between a database driver and a database. That's the role of a driver -- to have intimate communications with the DB so that your calling application can bind to the driver, not the DB. I'm asking this group: is my interpretation sound? </div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-fdd6e409-7fff-fd41-8557-fe797b3f1c7e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In case you have not already looked at these, here are two references you might consider:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Rationale documents that were published as a part of development of GPLv3. In particular, see footnote 21 in the third rationale document:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">21 We have made minor clarifications to this definition. Our restoration of “intimate” in place of the Draft 2 substitution “complex” followed from further public discussion of the Corresponding Source definition, in which it became clear that “complex” in the context of data communication suggested interpretations quite different from what we had intended.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Intimate” is the most useful term we know to describe the kind of convoluted interaction and deep knowledge that suggests that one part is specifically designed to require another part.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl3-dd3-rationale.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl3-dd3-rationale.pdf</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">GPL FAQs published by the FSF. In particular:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#MereAggregation" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#MereAggregation</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLPlugins" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLPlugins</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">-- Scott</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Scott K Peterson</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Senior Commercial Counsel</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Red Hat, Inc.</span></p></span><div> </div></div></div>