glib dependency for the X Server

mcnichol at austin.ibm.com mcnichol at austin.ibm.com
Mon Apr 3 12:13:44 PDT 2006


> From: Greg Stark <gsstark at mit.edu>
> 
> Eric Anholt <eric at anholt.net> writes:
> 
> > So, I intend to make the X Server link to glib, and use data structures
> > from there.  While glib is a new dependency, it's not *that* large (<
> > 380k on my amd64), it's LGPL (so it doesn't affect the ability to ship
> > closed X Servers), and probably everybody has it installed already.  
> 
> Note that linking with an LGPL library does impose some restrictions that
> would be fairly onerous for a package like X. For example, a closed X server
> would have to include linkable objects that would allow a user to relink the X
> server with an updated version of the LGPL'd library.
> 
> I'm generally a big proponent of free software and a defender of the GPL but I
> think it would be a mistake for a project with an unrestrictive license like
> the X11 license to start down that path. At least not without a lot of thought
> on the subject.
> 
> Surely there are tons of public domain linked lists and other data structures
> out there that could be included wholesale and statically linked into X?

I have to agree with this 100%.
Please no GPL/LGPL.
Our lawyers will not allow us to ship it with the AIX operating system.

Thanks
Dan McNichol
IBM Austin, TX



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