[Info-vax] GCC for VMS, was: Re: fortran compiler roadmap?

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 4/17/2013 9:18 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 4/17/2013 4:53 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> In article <kkmqqa$rr3$1 at dont-email.me>,
>>     Simon Clubley <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> writes:
>>> On 2013-04-17, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The last version of gcc I met for VMS was very old.  Specifically went
>>>> looking for gcc for inclusion on the last Freeware, too.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Ada Core Technologies (ACT) maintains a port of gcc for it's VMS Ada
>>> customers. The source code was not freely available however the last
>>> time I looked (several years ago) because at that time they were
>>> exercising the option in the GPL which allows them to distribute it
>>> to their customers only
>>
>> And wasn't that specifically what the Gnu Public Virus was supposed to
>> prevent?
>
> No.
>
> GPL is supposed to prevent anyone having a binary of the code (general
> open source) or something "linked" with it (GPL specific) without being
> able to get the source and modify it or redistribute it.
>
> But nothing in OSI definition or GPL force them to distribute
> binaries to anyone besides those they want to.
>
> It is generally not a big problem as OSI definition/GPL allows
> those that receive the binary to redistribute binary and source
> if they want to.
>
> Typical there will always be someone that want to redistribute.
>
> But Ada on OpenVMS may be a relative small club with limited
> interest in open source principles.

But if someone was really interested, then they could try getting
the binary for another platform and then request the source.

I doubt that they maintain a separate source tree for OpenVMS,
so one may get the OpenVMS source together with the rest.

Arne