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Is Apple Now Blocking Contributions To GCC?

Posted by Scott_Ruecker on · 2 comments
Phoronix; By Michael Larabel 		Mail this story
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Yesterday on the mailing list for GCC is was brought up if Apple's Objective-C 2.0 patches for the GNU Compiler Collection could be merged back into the upstream GCC code-base as maintained by the Free Software Foundation. Even though Apple's modified GCC sources still reflect the FSF as the copyright holder and are licensed under the GNU GPLv2+, it doesn't look like Apple wants their compiler work going back upstream any longer.

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Comments (2)

lsatenstein ·
In a small minded approach, looking at today's profits only, by making O-C locked out, this action locks out many developers who can't pays Apples compiler fees. When developers are locked out, and Gartner tells us, that Android will take over the market by 2014, it seems that developers will switch their allegiance to develop for the Android.

I think that I am super happy I did not buy into the Apple product line. I have no commitment to developing for a me-only company.
gus3 ·
If GCC is licensed under the GPLv2/3, then two things are true:

1. Apple must supply whatever patches they have applied to the GCC source code base, as well as (a link to?) the source code base to which they apply those patches, for whatever Apple-published version a user may obtain, and Apple must supply these on demand of anyone to whom Apple has supplied the binaries built from these.

2. Once someone receives these (source code plus patches), Apple cannot restrict what the recipient does with them, as long as the recipient complies with the terms of the GPLv2/3. An NDA would violate both versions 2 and 3 of the GPL.

So what's to stop someone from demanding, and then publishing the patches where the GCC project can find them?

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