[ale] Compiling from source

[James Sumners]

On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 10:27 AM, David Hillman <hillmands at gmail.com> wrote:
> Isn't the whole point of open source to be able to build from the source
> code without too much trouble?

No. The point is that you can read the source code. If you have the
facility to compile it, then you can fix problems on your own and
maybe send your changes back to the author for future inclusion.

Then there are the situations where the license calls for the author
to open the code (read GPL). They have to make the code under license,
and any changes they made to it, available. But that does not mean
they have to make the code they wrote independently of it available.
So it's possible that the code is completely unable to be compiled,
but you have it anyway.

There are plenty of instances in my job that I wish I had access to
the product's source code but couldn't care less about being able to
compile it myself. I just want to know what they did so I can write my
own code (against their libraries).


-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59