[gtkada] make an app in several languages - licenses

Jacob Sparre Andersen sparre at nbi.dk
Mon Feb 7 23:31:49 CET 2005


Thomas De Contes wrote:

> someone said me that gettext is under the GPL, so i can't
> make a commercial app with it is it right ?

The GNU Gettext _tools_ are distributed under the GNU GPL.  
The GNU Gettext "libintl" is distributed under the GNU LGPL.  
And why don't you try to look stuff like that up yourself
instead of asking on a GtkAda mailing list?

> in gtkada-intl.ads it is writen "As a special exception,
> if ... you link this unit with other files to produce an
> executable, this unit does not by itself cause the
> resulting executable to be covered by the GPL."

> why not remove this exception of this file ?

Because it makes sense to have it there.

> and, anyway, is it right for me if i use all GtkAda but
> not GtkAda.Intl, to make my commercial app ?

You can use all of GtkAda in commercial applications.

> btw, what's the better way to make a commercial app in
> several languages ?

GNU Gettext is the _only_ sensible way to make a program
translatable.  But if you dislike the horrible C code in GNU
Gettext, you're most welcome to reimplement it.  But after
many years of working on i18n and l10n, I am convinced that
GNU Gettext has the best design for making programs
translatable.

Jacob
-- 
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 In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner
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