Subject: Re: bc and dc revisited.
To: Phil Nelson <phil@pn.fdns.net>
From: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@wasabisystems.com>
List: tech-userlevel
Date: 11/10/2003 12:57:33
On Nov 10, 2003, at 11:30 AM, Phil Nelson wrote:

> Again, I'd like to know why it is so important to have the GPL removed 
> from
> all the tools?    I understand the kernel and fully support it.

Any GPL'd anything in userland makes embedded systems people 
uncomfortable.  Things like awk, bc/dc, gzip, etc. are sometimes needed 
in embedded systems (thankfully, GCC never is :-)

I think, in general, we should strive to use non-GPL'd versions of 
tools when there are credible alternatives available (e.g. there are no 
credible alternatives to GDB, Binutils, and GCC).

         -- Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@wasabisystems.com>