[Haskell-cafe][Cabal-devel] Cabal && license combinations

[Dan Knapp]

  I haven't heard anyone mention this yet, and it's a biggie, so I
guess I'd better de-lurk and explain it.  The issue is this:  There is
a legal distinction between static and dynamic linking, or at least
some licenses (the GPL is the one I'm aware of) believe that there is.
 In particular, they assert that you are legally creating a "derived
work" if you statically link with their library, and that your
library, even if it's just a thin bindings wrapper, must therefore
comply by their license terms.  They make no such claim for dynamic
linking.

  Of course, Haskell on most platforms and default configurations
links everything statically!  So I believe this means that you have to
comply by the licenses of all your dependencies!  Now, there's a
difference between complying by those licenses and being under them
yourself, but for example I believe this means that if we have a
package named "hs-save-the-whales" that is under the GPL, and a
front-end package "hs-redeem-them-for-valuable-cash-prizes" which
makes use of the functionality in hs-save-the-whales, the front-end
MUST be offered under the GPL, and, additionally, CANNOT be offered
under BSD (I think).

  I think it would be a very useful and valuable thing for Cabal to
detect this situation and warn appropriately!  Contamination by
undesired licenses is a serious flaw in the packaging of a package; it
just happens to be a legal flaw rather than a technical one.  Indeed,
I would argue that this is far more important than any hypothetical
per-file licensing.


-- 
Dan Knapp
"An infallible method of conciliating a tiger is to allow oneself to
be devoured." (Konrad Adenauer)