[Python-Dev] Optionally using GMP to implement long if available

[Thomas Wouters]

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 01:37, <skip at pobox.com> wrote:

>
>    Benjamin> The main objection is that GMP is licensed under LGPL which I
>    Benjamin> believe conflicts with Python's very open license.
>
>    >> If GMP itself isn't included with Python how can there be a licensing
>    >> issue?
>
>     Martin> On Windows, the GMP binaries would be incorporated into
>    Martin> pythonxy.dll.  This would force anybody providing a copy of
>    Martin> pythonxy.dll to also provide the sources of GMP.
>
> As I understand it the proposal was to allow people to substitute GMP for
> Python's long implementation.  Just deliver binaries with the Python long
> version if you don't want to distribute the GMP source.  OTOH, it should be
> no big deal to drop a zip archive of the GMP sources which correspond to
> the
> code bound into the DLL.  OTOOH, doesn't Windows support dynamic linking?
> Can't pythonxy.dll dynamically link to a gmpMN.dll?
>

Neither of those (shipping sources or dynamically linking to GMP) would
solve the LGPL issue. People who distribute that build of Python would still
be held by the LGPL -- such as shipping any sources that they embed that
Python into.

-- 
Thomas Wouters <thomas at python.org>

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