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"Brough, Tom" wrote:
My boss has just called me into his office and asked me to explain "GPL in one sentence".
Hehe - I can do special relativity in one sentence, but it might not make you any wiser after reading it. And I can't work in why E=MC^2 is a special case of E^2=P^2C^2 + Mo^2C^4, where P=0, or why you might care, unless the sentence structure resembled that of Salman Rush2die.
StarOffice 5.2 is GPL ? Yes ( I think so )
Not as far as I am aware - StarOffice 5.2 source code is proprietary SUN.
OpenOffice.org 6.0 is a derivative work thats GPL ? Yes ( Im very sure on that one).
Close - OpenOffice 6.0 is LGPL code. If I contribute to OpenOffice my contribution is guaranteed to remain free, but LGPL allows linking of code under different licences. That OpenOffice 6.0 source code is derived from SUN proprietary code is SUN's business. They hold the copyright, and copyright holders have extra rights (even under the full GNU GPL).
Star Office 6 is NOT GPL ? Yes ( or am I getting confused ?)
Because OpenOffice is LGPL, SUN can link in value added components and distribute that under their own licencing arrangements.
So if Star Office 5.2 is GPL, how where sun able to release Star Office 6 under a non GPL license ?
Star Office 5.2 is not GPL.
Is there some sort of special agreement that allowed Sun to maintain the right to not GPL their own developments to Star Office 5.2 ?
See above.
Can someone please enlighten me as my legal mind set is not currently clear on this one.
Basically Open Office is both Free and gratis. Star Office 6 is neither despite being based on Open Office. You buy Star Office 6 if you want support from SUN, manuals etc. They chuck in some other bits of 3rd party software as well I believe. Isn't clear to me how you would save much money going with Star Office 6 at the price SUN were going to charge. When I leave Star Office 5 behind I will go Open Office. The problem with these kinds of licensing arrangements is that the commercial versions of products built on free software can leverage all the free stuff and then some. So the free core can end up the worse of all possible implementations, and get left behind. Lets do the ruthless compromise. OpenOffice licencing isn't ideal, but it is free software, it is available gratis, and it is here now and working. No doubt in a few years we'll all be using KOffice or GNOME, and be totally FREE, but we can worry about that in a few years. Think of it like the GNU Hurd - it will replace Linux, just not soon. I suggest get a CD with OpenOffice on, install it on Linux and Windows, and play with it a bit. Then show your boss a flashy document, and import some Word documents that he'll know. Explain the price (he'll like that) and have some research on support costs (if any)....... Simon, realising your next question is training, although to be honest for what most people use of word processors if they know Office they'll just drive it. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.