Re: new module - LZO

The problem is that the GPL can "infect" other code in PHP. Linking to GPL code makes your code GPL. The definition of linking is somewhat vague, and it _could_ be interpreted that runtime linking of your extension to PHP will make PHP subject to the GPL. The GPL and how it mixes with PHP is a big nasty can of worms. At the end of the day, it can't stop you from writing your extension, and you can still use the PECL facilities, but it will stop your extension from ever being bundled with the main PHP distribution. It's worth asking the author of the library to see if he will grant the PHP project license to link the library under a non-viral license. The other extensions that link to GPL libraries are generally safe because there are other libraries available under alternative licenses that have the same API (eg: there is a BSD readline compatible library, many systems have iconv etc. etc.). In these cases, the GPL cannot be enforced because the code does not rely on the GPL version of the library. --Wez. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marcin Gibu³a" <mg@iceni.pl> To: <pecl-dev@lists.php.net> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 12:29 AM Subject: Re: [PECL-DEV] new module - LZO > > From the LZO site: > > > > LZO and the LZO algorithms and implementations are distributed under the > > terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) > > > > That could be a problem. > > Well, most libraries used by php are under GPL. Why is this a problem? This > module is only a glue between php and library...