[SciPy-dev] requesting feedback on/editing of scikits wiki-page

[Robert Kern]

Alexander Schmolck wrote:
> Stefan van der Walt <stefan@sun.ac.za> writes:

>> You can still license *your* part of the software under the modified BSD
>> license.
> 
> My understanding is you can't if it depends on the GPLed code. You'd have to
> write a non-GPL'ed drop-in replacement first.

Your understanding is incorrect. You can combine code under a GPL-compatible but
non-GPL license with GPLed code. The work as a whole must be distributed under
the terms of the GPL. The readline module in Python, for example, is distributed
under the PSF license just like the rest of Python. There is no drop-in
replacement for libreadline (I don't believe libedit has been a drop-in
replacement for many years, now).

The non-GPLed bit *must* be GPL-compatible, but it does not have to be GPLed.
There are explicit statements from Richard Stallman to that effect.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco