GPL and virality

[tobias.knopp]

@Evizero

I did actually worry about this a little (given that I am easily worried and know little about legal matters). but as I understand Julia is a compiled program, so I don’t think using that program to produce data (i.e. code) influences libraries one writes. Just like using a GPL editor doesn’t influence the license of code you write. Similarly for executing the code, which I figure is somewhat relatable to gcc compiling programs. The issue (as I understand it) would arise if one were to compile or link julia itself into something.

No this is wrong. Julia base library does use external GPL code that is dynamically linked. The situation is exactly the same as for packages.

There is an GPL free compile time option but in that case you would of course not have that functionality. (master may now be GPL free, don’t want to make a misinformed statement)