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

[Stephen Tetley]

On 9 February 2011 23:35, Dan Knapp <dankna at gmail.com> wrote:
[SNIP]

> 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).

If you incorporate GPL code into a binary you want to distribute you
have to comply with the GPL. Static linking a GPL library will
incorporate GPL code into your binary, ergo you have to comply with
the GPL.

If you write a client of a GPL library and you want to distribute it,
your client can be any GPL compatible license - it does not have to be
GPL. Should you distribute a compiled binary you have to comply with
the GPL and any additional terms brought in by your GPL-compatible
license.

Its that simple - until there is a court ruling to decide otherwise.