Re^3: OT Windows Installers

Ok, this is OT but here goes. ActiveState says you can't distribute ActiveState by yourself without a license. A PAR executable could do nothing but evaluate a perl file passed into it on the command line. This, in effect, is not Perl, but a Perl program .. does this constitute distributing ActiveState perl?

I have no interest in doing this -- but I have used a PAR app before (it actually did something other than evaluate Perl code), though we never quite got the legal ok. I told my boss, "let the lawyers figure this out", and evidentally it passed. I was not about to make the decision myself. Really, I wish we bought the ActiveState license -- that would have been the way to go.

Comment on Re^3: OT Windows Installers

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Re^4: OT Windows Installers by Anonymous Monk on Sep 30, 2004 at 08:46 UTC
That refers to the entire package only because they have copyrighted programs/html included. If you're worried, all you have to do is compile perl yourself. BTW, ActiveState is not ActivePerl.	[reply]
Re^4: OT Windows Installers by radiantmatrix (Parson) on Oct 01, 2004 at 15:29 UTC
IANAL, you should get the advice of one, blah, blah, blah. Firstly, you are allowed unlimited personal distribution and distribution within your organization. It's only an issue at all if you want to redistribute outside your organization. That said, If you use PAR to distribute ActiveState-based applications, I think you are limited to using the options that require your users to download the Perl libraries. In other words, you can sort of "dynamically link" against ActivePerl. However, it would seem from the terms that are included with Komodo Pro that anything you compile and ship out with PAR (since Komodo uses PAR for compilation anyhow) is an acceptable redistribution. Those are what the ActiveState licenses seem to say to me. It is worthy of note, though, that there is a great deal of industry precedent to suggest that redistributing static-linked code is not the same as redistributing the packages themselves -- so, you might be OK to send a PAR-packed .exe, complete with libraries. What I suggest is sending e-mail to ActiveState and asking them what their policy is. They may not explain all of your legal rights, but you'll know if they are likely to have a problem with what you plan to do or not. What ever they say, get it in writing. `require General::Disclaimer;` All code, unless otherwise noted, is untested "All it will give you though, are headaches after headaches as it misinterprets your instructions in the most innovative yet useless ways." - Maypole and I - Tales from the Frontier of a Relationship (by Corion)	[reply]