Can a Windows installer include both VC++ libs and GPLed libs?

[Joe Vornehm Jr.]

Dear FSF licensing experts,

Is it a violation of the GPL (v2 and v3) to bundle the Visual C++
redistributable libraries and GPLed libraries in a single executable
installer?  I have already read the GPL FAQ
(http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WindowsRuntimeAndGPL),
which states that GPLed code can link to the Visual C++ libraries
without violating the GPL, but that FAQ does not mention this
situation and a disagreement has arisen (as well as some confusion).

The GNU Octave binary distribution for Windows includes the CLN
library, which is under the GPL v2 or later, as well as the VC++
redistributable libraries.  A CLN developer recently claimed that this
is a GPL violation.  Several Octave developers disagree.  The CLN
developer's explanation is at
<http://www.cebix.net/pipermail/cln-list/2009-April/000506.html>.  The
extensive discussion of the issue on the Octave-Forge mailing list is
at 
<http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=128f38bd0904200443oacc1502n55a860f2ccf8574a%40mail.gmail.com&forum_name=octave-dev>.
 (As you can see, there is a great deal of confusion!)

If that is a GPL violation, does it depend strictly on the installer
being an executable, or would it also apply to a .zip or .tar.gz
installer (e.g., a compressed archive that contains an installation
program and many packages to install, including the VC++ library
installer executable)?  I'm not sure whether a .zip file is considered
"object code" under GPLv3 or "executable" or "object code" under
GPLv2.

Please include the Octave-Maintainers list and Octave-Forge list in
your reply (reply to all).  You may also wish to update the GPL FAQ to
clarify, as this issue surely impacts more than just Octave.

Thank you!

Joe Vornehm