[sword-devel] New Windows SWORD GUI

[Chris Little]

On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Hugo van der Kooij wrote:

> On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Chris Little wrote:
> 
> > Also, ANY use of Sword Project code within other programs requires that 
> > those programs be licensed under the GPL.  That includes programs that 
> > just interface Sword through a DLL.
> 
> I was under the impression that LGPL was design to tackle the GPL sticky
> bit as in that one may interface with LGPL libraries without the code
> becoming GPL infected.
> 
> Including code itself however makes the GPL license stick to any offspring
> without any reservation.

Right.  LGPLed libraries do not force their users to adopt either GPL or 
LGPL licensing for their work.

But Sword is not licensed under the LGPL.  Sword is licened under the GPL 
exclusively.  (Whether we should go to LGPL has been debated in the past 
and didn't win very strong approval.)

The GPL doesn't cover just distribution rights, it also covers usage.  
USING Sword in an unauthorized manner, according to the license (by 
linking to it, either at compile time or run time) would violate the 
license.

--Chris