[MacRuby-devel] GPL and the App Store

[Joshua Ballanco]

On Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 10:03 PM, Mike Boone wrote:
> I'm not experienced with Ruby's source code. The only files which
> mention the GPL in LEGAL are parse.c and util.c. Is the "vanilla"
> MacRuby using those? If not, it seems there is no issue, but perhaps
> the documentation should reflect this.
If you look closely at the license text in parse.c there is a special exception for programs that are not parser generators, which would cover the use of parse.c in Ruby. As for util.c, the only section of the code mentioning the GPL is surrounded with pre-processor directives that only include the code in question on Windows builds (and, so far as I am aware, no one has compiled MacRuby on Windows yet).

As for clarification, I think project documentation is not really the place for legal advice. If you want, you can go to the FSF (http://www.fsf.org/ -- which has already approved the Ruby license as a "free software license" and compatible with the GPL) or the OSI (http://opensource.org/ -- who have not, yet, issued an opinion on the Ruby license) for more guidance. If you need more assistance understanding the licensing issues than these organizations can provide, or if you feel that there is a significant risk to your business or livelihood, I would recommend contacting an IP lawyer for further advice.

- Josh
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