Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxr!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!wanginst!ucadmus!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!gwyn
From: gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: public domain?
Message-ID: <6780@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 26-Dec-84 08:19:48 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.6780
Posted: Wed Dec 26 08:19:48 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Dec-84 05:06:19 EST
References: <6779@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
Lines: 14

>  . the object code from a proprietary C compiler is itself proprietary.
>  . the executable binary of a C program is proprietary if it uses any of
>    the standard library functions, which are proprietary.
>  . any program written in yacc is proprietary, because the algorithms
>    output by yacc are proprietary.
>  . the proprietary ownership of all of this is good ol' Bell.

All false, with the possible exception of yacc's parser which I have
never heard declared non-proprietary by AT&T.  They have specifically
stated that C library binaries linked in with an application have a
waiver so that one may distribute them without requiring an AT&T license.
The code generated from your own sources by a compiler cannot by any
stretch of the legal imagination be considered property of the compiler
vendor.