[Nel] Using GCC? -- was: GPL specifics

[Vincent Archer]

According to Tony Hoyt:
> Okay well I hate to go slightly off topic here but this is a question
> that I need to ask since we're talking about all GPL, LGPL, etc.  Where
> does building an application with gcc fall into all of this?  I write a
> program, build it with gcc or g++ and plan to sell it to other users. 
> But, I don't want to distribute the source of the application.  Can I
> still use gcc/g++?  or am I forced to find an alternative compiler such
> as VisualC for windows or a unix specific compiler for unix variants?

Even though you *used* GCC to build the program, gcc *itself* is in no
way present in the program you distribute. There's no portion of gcc
source code or binary in your application. Thus, your program does not
inherit the licensing from the gcc GPL license.

The only think that gets bundled is the C library. And the C library
(glibc) is covered by the LGPL, which specifically allows for that case
(i.e. distributing a program that is linked with a GPL software, without
 placing the GPL strictures on the program itself).

The same thing would apply to a C grammar parser that was generated
by bison (the GPL parser generation tool). Using bison to generate your
C source does not require you to put said source under the GPL: bison
is not included in your program, only its output (hmmm, is the library
required for bison LGPL? I think so, but can't remember)

-- 
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer@frmug.org

All men are mortal.  Socrates was mortal.  Therefore, all men are Socrates.
							(Woody Allen)