undefined | Better HN

0 pointsfoota2y ago0 comments

Does LGPL require that you be able to do so on the same platform it's being distributed on? There's nothing stopping someone from downloading an LGPL binary from the app store and running it in an emulator or something, right?

0 comments

cyphar2y ago

In short, yes. See 4(e):

> Provide Installation Information, but only if you would otherwise be required to provide such information under section 6 of the GNU GPL, and only to the extent that such information is necessary to install and execute a modified version of the Combined Work produced by recombining or relinking the Application with a modified version of the Linked Version.

And from GPLv2:

> For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable.

footaOP2y ago

Perhaps this is splitting hairs (although that's necessary for licenses), but would it not be sufficient to be able to install the binary somewhere, but not on every machine? E.g., if I tell a customer the modified binary can be installed on some emulator, but not their phone, why is that prohibited?

In this case, I guess the installation information would have to be "use an emulator and do XYZ".

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse