On 13/06/07, Felipe Magno de Almeida
If, hypotetically, I fix a bug in shared_ptr. What are my obligations when using it inside a closed-source project?
Your modification of shared_ptr is probably a derivative work, and as such falls under the Boost Software License. However, there's no requirement that you distribute your modifications. Note the "to any person or organization obtaining a copy of the software and accompanying documentation covered by this license"--since the only people that could legally obtain your modification are in your company, you don't have a problem. As has been mentioned, once you compile it, you have almost no obligations. Also, that part can be treated as a separate work that is just used by your program. ( Aggregation creates a Compilation, not a derivative work. When nvidia releases a binary linux driver, for example, part of the code is GPLed, but the rest of it is not. The FSF doesn't like the "non-free" part, but it's not a legal problem. Similarly, the collection of packages and such on a LiveCD is copyrightable, but is a distinct work from the contained software packages. ) IANAL as always, ~ Scott McMurray