[XviD-devel] GPL and Windows

[Makira]

> On the other hand, if you arent FSF zealots, and you think that the windows
> world could do with a free mpeg4 codec, then by all means release it, but
> you cant do it using GPL. LGPL, yes. FreeBSD, yes. But not GPL.

Let's read the GPL together:

[...]
0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
under the terms of this General Public License.  The "Program", below,
refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
language.  (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
the term "modification".)  Each licensee is addressed as "you".

******* Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. *******  The act of
running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
[...]
(emphasis mine)

XviD can be modified. Xvid can be distributed and copied (on its own). Usage
is not restrited in any way.

[...]
However, as a
special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
itself accompanies the executable.
[...]

So no problems for Vfw, since it comes from the OS.

Anything else?