GPL exception that allows linking to free licenses only?

Posted by fNek on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by fNek
Published on 2014-06-11T15:21:50Z Indexed on 2014/06/11 15:39 UTC
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licensing

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gpl

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legal

There is the GPL license and the linking exception which allows closed-source programs to use the program as a library. There is also the slightly more restrictive LGPL (more restrictive than GPL with exception since it requires that the user can change the library in the resulting project, etc.).

And there is the Cygwin exception that allows linking to open source programs. I see clear advantages: Open-Source programs may use the library. People may use these programs for closed-source programs, but then they lose the permission to use the (GPL) library.

However, there are two things I don't like about the Cygwin exception: - Its legal status is disputed - I keep hearing that it is basically worthless - It requires certification by the OSI, I would rather have certification by FSF

Is there an exception to the GNU General Public License that meets my requirements?

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