Why so few Python jobs? (and licenses)

[Paul Rubin]

Gerhard Häring <gh_pythonlist at gmx.de> writes:
> On Mon, Oct 08, 2001 at 07:51:08PM -0700, Paul Rubin wrote:
> > I don't think anything in the standard Python library is GPL'd.
> > (GPL-compatible yes, GPL'd no).
> 
> But AFAIK some functionality is only there if you link against GPL'd
> libraries like GMP (for arbitrary length Python longs), readline and
> maybe others I forgot.

I don't think the gmp module is in the standard distribution.  Anyway,
GMP itself is LGPL'd, not GPL'd, so you can use GMP in closed programs
as long as you offer the source of the version of GMP you distribute
(but NOT the surrounding program you incorporate it in).  I'm not sure
about Readline.

> So you should perhaps still be careful before distributing a binary
> version of Python and linking in your own modules.

If "your own modules" means modules you wrote yourself, there should
be no problem.  If it means GPL'd modules written by other people,
your program needs to be GPL'd as well (i.e. you must offer source to
the whole thing).  The issue I was raising was that getting permission
from a GPL'd module's main author may not be enough to make it ok to
use the module in a closed program.  GPL'd programs often have a lot
of people's hands in them (that's the whole point of the GPL).  If I
write a GPL'd module and users start sending me fixes and
improvements, I have to think of them as contributors who worked on
the program with the understanding that it was free.  If someone else
then wants to pay me for the right to use the improved module in a
closed product, I have to get the permission of everyone else who
contributed, which may mean they all have to also get paid.

IMO, if you write and release a free program, it's best to decide at
the time of the initial release whether you want to allow closed use,
choose your license accordingly, announce your choice and stick to it.
To do anything else isn't fair to others who might contribute expecting
one thing but getting another.  (I say this from having gotten burned
several times over these issues in various ways--live and learn.)