[olug] U.K. Urged to hold back on open source

[Jay Hannah]

Sam Tetherow wrote:
> William E. Kempf wrote:
> >Sam Tetherow said:
> >>William E. Kempf wrote:
> >>>Sam Tetherow said:
> >>>And using GPLed software is a non-issue.  Even gcc (perl isn't GPLed,
> >>>though there must be a perl interpreter that is) can be used to
> >>>produce non-GPLed software.  It's the act of incorporating/linking
> >>>GPLed code, even dynamically, that forces your work to be GPLed.
> >>>
> >>Perl isn't GPLed?  Why do they distribute the GPL license with the
> >>code then (cpan.org, core documentation 'Copying' file)
> >>The only restriction this imposes on my code is when it comes to
> >>redistribution.  If the code never leaves my ownership it has zero
> >>effect.
> >
> >Perl is a language.  As such, it can't be covered by the GPL.  The
> >source code for particular Perl interpreters, such as those found on
> >cpan.org, however, can be GPLed.
> >
> My bad, Perl is a language, perl is the implementation, I just
> capitalized it since it started the sentence.


http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_is_Perl_licensed

Regarding perl the interpreter:
-----
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of either:
 
    a) the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
    Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any
    later version, or
    b) the "Artistic License" which comes with this Kit.
-----

Regarding anything I write in Perl the language:
-----
For those of you that choose to use the GNU General Public License,
my interpretation of the GNU General Public License is that no Perl
script falls under the terms of the GPL unless you explicitly put
said script under the terms of the GPL yourself. 
-----

So I don't see why any agency, government or otherwise, would ever avoid
Perl for development. Yes, if they distribute their solution they'd have
to also distribute the source code of perl (the interpreter), but
anything they wrote in Perl can be completely encrpyted, binary'd, and
proprietary, regardless of how much they distribute it. 

Unless you're saying Larry Wall doesn't understand the GPL...? You'd
think he would. I can ask him at OSCON in 2 weeks. -grin-

Jay Hannah
Omaha Perl Mongers: http://omaha.pm.org