🚀 go-pugleaf

butcher@g.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Lawrence Butcher) writes:

>There is no written law which says that a person is allowed to write a
>cross-compiler for Lotus Macros.  There is no written law which says that a
>programmer can take the keywords in the C language and add a couple, and
>distribute the new compiler as a separate work.  It is derived.  While
>patents allow an inventor to improve upon an invention and cross-license the
>improvement back to the original inventor, copyrights give no such right.
Not being a lawyer, but being connected to the net, I have the right to 
spout off legal sounding sort of things.  I know I have this right --I've
seen others do it all the time.  :)  anyway..

Of course there is no law that says you are allowed to do something.  That
would make for some seriously large legal volumes.  What you have to find
is a law that says that you -can't- write a cross compiler for Lotus Macros.

I see no reason why a compiler that matches the same set of keys that another
compiler matches guarentees a copyright infringement.  That would be like
saying that the replacement keyboard for my PC is illegal because it puts
out the same signals when I type as the orginal IBM one did. (I don't really
have an IBM, but that's not the point, is it?)

Other than that, you seem quite upset about patents and copyrights.
I probably missed your point entirely or something.

My basic summary then would be that it's perfectly legal to take the C
language and add a couple key words and distribute it as long as you don't
try to call it C.  People do things like that all the time for their
spiffy hardware.  They write extensions into a fortran compiler or something
like that and call it "Fortran+".


--
Rodney