Re: pthreads

[Ralf Wildenhues]

* Stefan Bienert wrote on Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 02:19:26PM CET:
>>> I already found acx_pthread in the autoconf-archive but it has the 
>>> wrong  license for me. The macro is GPL with an exception on the 
>>> product of it.  I need somethin BSDish with sort of no limitations in 
>>> use...
>>
>> Why would you need that?
>
> Well to distribute the whole project among all developers? This would  
> require including the source of the ACX_PTHREAD macro in the project  
> directory.

Well, at least that's not the intention of the GPL+exception, as the FSF
intends it.  However, the FSF is not the copyright owner of the Autoconf
Macro Archive, and modules there use more than one license, that should
be noted.

As to whether this actually makes a derived product is not for me to
tell you (typically only a judge can answer that definitely), but I
can tell you as much that the exception that is currently being drafted
for use with GPLv3 in Autoconf, should ensure that you can distribute
macro code with your code, if you use Autoconf.  One can hope that the
copyright holders of the Autoconf Macro Archive code will go along and
use that same exception then.

> As far as I understand the whole license thing (I am  defenitively not
> a lawyer) including GPl-Code in your project makes the  project GPL...

No, that's definitely wrong.  What can happen is that you may lose (more
precisely: not have) the right to distribute the infringing product as
long as it infringes.

Cheers,
Ralf