[Ffmpeg-cvslog] [ffmpeg.org]: r40 - trunk/src/legal

[Diego Biurrun]

On Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 06:18:46PM +0200, Diego Biurrun wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 04:15:43PM +0200, Michael Niedermayer wrote:
> > 
> > On Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 03:45:19PM +0200, diego wrote:
> > > 
> > > Log:
> > > Mention that libswscale is GPL as well.
> > > Clarify that the LGPL does not only apply to the libs contained in FFmpeg.
> > > 
> > > --- trunk/src/legal	(original)
> > > +++ trunk/src/legal	Fri Aug 25 15:45:19 2006
> > > @@ -14,16 +14,17 @@
> > >  
> > >  <H3>FFmpeg License</H3>
> > >  FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, or LGPL.
> > > -Essentially, this means that you are allowed to use the FFmpeg library in
> > > +Essentially, this means that you are allowed to use parts of FFmpeg in
> > >  your own application, regardless of your application's license. However, if
> > 
> > the LGPL allows applications to link at runtime to LGPL code or it allows
> > linking at compiletime if and only if either the whole source code of the
> > application or object files is provided so the user can relink the 
> > application with a more recent version of the library
> > 
> > what you wrote sounds like the user could copy and paste parts at will into
> > his propriatery code
> 
> Hmm, yes, it's not particularly clear.
> 
> I talked to somebody on IRC in #ffmpeg earlier today.  He was confused
> about the license of ffmpeg.exe and similar since the website and the
> LGPL keep talking about "library".  My intention was to clarify that.
> 
> Thinking about it, it's probably not a good idea to give a short and
> sweet explanation of the LGPL on this page, it seems to be destined to
> fail.

I propose ripping out the interpretations of the (L)GPL and replacing
with the following:

  FFmpeg License

  FFmpeg is licensed under the <a href="/link/to/text">GNU Lesser General
  Public License (LGPL)</a>.  However, FFmpeg incorporates several modules
  that are covered by the <a href="/link/to/text">GNU General Public
  License (GPL)</a>, notably liba52, libpostproc and libswscale.  If those
  parts get used the GPL applies to all of FFmpeg.

  Read the license texts to learn how this affects programs built on top
  of FFmpeg or reusing parts of FFmpeg.  You may also wish to have a look
  at <a href="/link/to/text">the GPL FAQ</a>.

Comments welcome.

Diego