Re: [RFC] Update to current automake/autoconf/libtool versions.

Maciej W. Rozycki
2002-12-06T15:34:08Z

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, DJ Delorie wrote:

> > Historically this is not a problem.
>
> Legally it is. The first time they delete something we need, our
> distribution becomes instantly illegal.
> And traditionally, the GPL hasn't allowed you to put the
> responsibility of providing sources on someone else.

I don't understand -- AFAIK, the GNU GPL doesn't enforce everyone making
use of files generated by autoconf/automake/gettext/libtool to distribute
sources of the said tools. As I understand, only if binutils use modified
tools, the relevant sources need to be made available. For versions using
such tools, making the patches available is obvious (for practical
reasons, too). Whether the original sources of the tools the patches
apply to need to be made available is unclear to me -- I can't decipher it
from the GNU GPL. It won't hurt certainly.

Anyway referring to ftp.gnu.org as the primary source of original
versions of tools the way I wrote should be fine legally, too.

--
+ Maciej W. Rozycki, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland +
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
+ e-mail: macro@ds2.pg.gda.pl, PGP key available +