Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Do applications differ from libraries?

Author:David McCusker
Posted:9/9/2000; 11:19:38 AM
Topic:Guido and Richard
Msg #:21075 (In response to 21072)
Prev/Next:21074 / 21076

David Rothgery: I think that as software becomes more componetized, the lines between a scriptable application and a library becomes very, very thin.

Yes, they're nearly the same for all intents and purposes. That an 'app' is packaged differently as a binary and distribution format is mostly irrelevant to the role of providing re-usable functionality. Parts are parts, and both apps and libraries are the same in this context. Being able to communicate at all erases any important line.

Last night Wes Felter cited a recent interpretation of GPL exegesis that any code loaded in the same process as GPL code must also be GPL'd as well. But this is hardly a constraint, since one can simply have non-GPL code in a separate process drive GPL code in it's own process. I'm sure the folks at Advogato will discuss how to plug this 'hole' again sometime soon. It seems to be the intent of the GPL to constrain any software able to interact with it by any means. It's this intent to constrain that is highly irritating.

(Suddenly I want to go off in a fugue and talk about oysters, irritants, and pearls, since this leads to puns with Perl and scripting. But I must resist.)

David Rothgery: but the component-ish model we play with on Windows ends up bluring the lines a lot.

I want to establish early and often that this is not a Windows specific idea or innovation. It will make me puke if I find we have been positioned as following the genius of Windows yet again, because MS pulled off another PR coup setting themselves up as the originator of some basic idea common in the industry. (Uh, sorry if I sound more than a little tense and reactionary on the topic. :-)

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