Non-GPL C (or R) inside of a package

On 30/08/2011 1:50 PM, Jeffrey Ryan wrote:

R-devel,

I am interested in creating a package that requires non-GPL'd 
(commercial) C code to work.  In essence it is a single .c file 
with no use of R headers (all .C callable functions).  For 
example's sake:

   1 #include<stdio.h>
   2
   3 void test (int *a) {
   4   *a = 101;
   5 }

The package isn't destined for CRAN, and I realize that this isn't 
R-legal, but looking for some expert advice from anyone else who 
may have encountered this previously.

The question is whether or not one can distribute code that has 
multiple licenses (.c or individual .R files), including some that 
are not GPL-compatible, as a tar.gz (or binary) file.  i.e., does 
the packaging process [R CMD ***] cause everything to become GPL, 
as we are using R itself to build the package?

I can only say that the answer to the last question is "no":  the author gets 
to choose the license for what s/he wrote.  The fact that you used R to 
package it is irrelevant.  (Some extremists will disagree, and say that 
because your package is intended to "link" to R, it must be licensed 
compatibly with the GPL if you distribute it.  I don't think that's true.)

If you are intending to distribute this file you are putting together, you'll 
probably want to consult someone who knows the legalities as to whether you 
can legally link to the commercial library...

Duncan Murdoch

I can of course provide the C libs in this case as a separate install, but
that adds complexity to the overall build and install process.

Thanks,
Jeff