Andreas Hilboll writes: > On 27.07.2015 15:09, Greg Troxel wrote: >> >> Rainer M Krug writes: >> >>> These packages all depend on R itself. >>> >>> So isn't this the same as in emacs / elisp? Isn't an exporter / .el file >>> the same as a package in R, something which enhances the original >>> product using a provided interface (the functions) but does not change >>> anything in the original program (R or emacs)? >> >> It's both the same and different. >> >> The legal question of whether R packages are derivative works of R is >> similar to the question of elisp packages that use editing primitives >> are derivative works of emacs. > > https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfInterpreterIsGPL seems to > give an answer: > > The interpreted program, to the interpreter, is just data; a free > software license like the GPL, based on copyright law, cannot limit what > data you use the interpreter on. You can run it on any data (interpreted > program), any way you like, and there are no requirements about > licensing that data to anyone. > > [...] > > Another similar and very common case is to provide libraries with the > interpreter which are themselves interpreted. For instance, Perl comes > with many Perl modules, and a Java implementation comes with many Java > classes. These libraries and the programs that call them are always > dynamically linked together. > > A consequence is that if you choose to use GPL'd Perl modules or Java > classes in your program, you must release the program in a > GPL-compatible way, regardless of the license used in the Perl or Java > interpreter that the combined Perl or Java program will run on. > > > So if I understand this correctly, an R module can be non-GPL if and > only if it does not use any GPL'ed R modules. Interesting. This actually i line with what I just read at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLStaticVsDynamic : ,---- | Does the GPL have different requirements for statically vs dynamically linked modules with a covered work? (#GPLStaticVsDynamic) | | No. Linking a GPL covered work statically or dynamically with | other modules is making a combined work based on the GPL covered | work. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public | License cover the whole combination. See also What legal issues | come up if I use GPL-incompatible libraries with GPL software? `---- According to this it seems clear: GPL compatible license. Cheers, Rainer > > Cheers, > Andreas. > -- Rainer M. Krug, PhD (Conservation Ecology, SUN), MSc (Conservation Biology, UCT), Dipl. Phys. (Germany) Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology Stellenbosch University South Africa Tel : +33 - (0)9 53 10 27 44 Cell: +33 - (0)6 85 62 59 98 Fax : +33 - (0)9 58 10 27 44 Fax (D): +49 - (0)3 21 21 25 22 44 email: Rainer@krugs.de Skype: RMkrug PGP: 0x0F52F982