LGPL v2 section 6 loophole?

[Sitaram Chamarty]

Thanks; I had not thought of it this way.  Makes sense...

regards,

sitaram

On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 1:17 PM, Janez Pers<janez.pers at fe.uni-lj.si> wrote:
> Sitaram Chamarty wrote:
>>
>> OK, I'll rephrase my question: can the closed source app actively
>> include measures to *prevent* something working which would otherwise
>> have worked, and still be compliant with LGPL v2?
>
>> [I should have clarified that I assume the API compatibiity still
>> exists, i.e., I am asking about cases where *technically* it is
>> possible.
>
> LGPL allows linking with closed-source programs. You cannot
> know if author of the closed-source app prevented compatibility
> a) on purpose with evil intentions, b) because he was lazy and
> used API in a version dependent manner or c) because there
> was good technical reason to do so.
>
> You cannot know if the reason is a, b or c, and since it is
> a closed source app, you don't have sources and nobody is
> obliged to release them to you - so in any case, such requirement
> (that authors don't prevent compatibility on purpose) would be
>  unenforceable.
>
> Janez.
>