Approval of IWL - Consolidated Response

[Bruce Perens]

Russ Nelson wrote:
> Gernot Heiser writes:
>  > >>>>> On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:13:10 -0700, Bruce Perens <bruce at perens.com> said:
>  > BP> FYI, I wrote OSD #9 and agree that its language is intended to prohibit
>  > BP> the terms in your license section (c)(ii).
>  > 
>  > Ok, so please excuse my ignorance. If this is a problem for the IWL,
>  > why is it not a problem for the GPL?
>
> Because the GPL relies on there being a single work.  The GPL doesn't
> try to reach across an API into other pieces of software.
>   
Essentially this is the difference between "use" and creation of  a 
derivative work.
The OSD was created as a policy of the Debian distribution, when I was 
the Debian project leader. One of my goals was that plain users, those 
who weren't modifying the software in the Debian system, would be able 
to use all of the software in the Debian system without concerning 
themselves with the licenses or requiring an attorney. Debian would not 
have been practical to use otherwise. But that applies to Open Source as 
a whole, too. Any significant restriction on use makes it impractical.

    Thanks

    Bruce