According to attorney Lawrence Rosen, whom specializes in technology, dynamic linking of program A with program B does not make program A a derivative work of program B. So if program B is GPL'ed then program A
does
not need to be GPL compatible. So you could build a DLL from OpenSSL
without
using GPL'ed code (like the GPL'ed ReactOS headers) and you could use
that
DLL in your GPL'ed program without imposing restrictions from the GPL on
the
non-GPL'ed program.
Probably this is true, legally spoken, but in the spirit of the GPL it does. It does according to RMS, so the next version of GPL might very well state something on linking explicitely. I'd think we better stay on the safe site. The GPL never really was a legal document anyway.
Mark
I'm still looking for any information on if the GPL has been challenged in court and if so, what was ruled. Anyone got any information? Until the GPL has been challenged in court, I believe RMS is wrong and he is just trying to scare people of using free software with proprietary software because he screwed up when he wrote the GPL.
Casper