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Posted by Henk verhoeven on 07/20/07 23:16
NC wrote:
> On Jul 20, 5:30 am, Martin Larsen <martin+spamfree+lar...@bigfoot.com>
> wrote:
(..)
>
> With PHP, the PHP interpreter is the functional analog of the word
> processor (it is a program that processes user-submitted data); PHP
> scripts, functionally, are documents (user-submitted data); an include/
> require is akin to an instruction to include a subdocument into the
> main document.
>
>> Anyway, in your opinion, does the mechanism rememble dynamic
>> or static linking most?
>
> Neither. Static linking and dynamic linking are terms applicable only
> to compiled languages; in case of an interpreted language, they are
> only meaningful when applied to the interpreter, not to scripts it
> parses.
>
Hi,
This may be true from a strict technical definition, but juridical
reasoning may not be that strict. It is unlikely that the php
interpreter will parse each line of code every time it interprets it.
Most interpreters use some kind of intermediate code. As not everything
is included at once, there will be a program in intermediate code being
executed when a require_once occurs. Then the required code is parsed
(maybe partially, but that is irrelevant) and the resulting intermediate
code may be executed. If the included file holds functions the functions
must be added to some sort of function lookup table so that the
interpreter can find them and jump into them quickly whan a call is
made. From a juridical point of view this adding to the lookup table can
easily be seen as linking.
Furtermore i believe te Free Software Foundation does not define
'linking' in strict compiler-linker terms. There is no problem if the
interpreter is GPL: for the interpreter the interpreted program is then
seen as data. But if your program is making calls to functions in a
GPL-ed library...
"A consequence is that if you choose to use GPL'd Perl modules or Java
classes in your program, you must release the program in a
GPL-compatible way, regardless of the license used in the Perl or Java
interpreter that the combined Perl or Java program will run on." See
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfInterpreterIsGPL
(The terms "use" and "release" may also not be what you think. Here it
becomes really tricky, i rather avoid making comments on that)
BTW, running a program that is using a GPL-ed library on your own public
website might have consequences with the new version of GPL (gpl3), see
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#UnreleasedMods
Does anybody know if that 'wording' made it to the final release?
Greetings,
Henk Verhoeven,
www.phpPeanuts.org.
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