[OT} How to un-GPL parts of a GPL'd module.

[dsavitsk]

"TeaAndBikkie" <teaandbikkie at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20021008160322.10230.00000085 at mb-fe.aol.com...
> > some quotable stuff lost in the thread :)
>
> How does the licence stand wrt reverse engineering?
>
> Say Alice who has seen the GPL'd code fragment, asks Bob who hasn't, to
produce
> something with X inputs and Y outputs, and Bob reinvents the same
algorithm,
> would Bob's code then be free from the GPL? Does it depend on complexity,
> common knowledge, or anything?
>
> --Misha
>
> """My opinions are purely theoretical, until I put them into practice."""
> (author unknowing)

Most people consider licenses to derive their power from copyright.  afaik,
under copyright laws, independedt creators are not infringers.  this is
different from either trademark or patent.  otoh, copyright does not usually
protect function, instead protecting the "useful arts," so what this is
implies is difficult to say.  probably, a truly independent creator is fine.

-d