Re: Does Microchip play fast and loose with the GPL?

On Mar 19, 10:01 pm, DJ Delorie <d...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Eric <englere_...@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
Do you know offhand which define symbol this is?

It's in gcc/config/pic30/pic30.c.  Look for LICENSE_MANAGER.

The linker may have similar code, too.

I agree that if they are distributing the license checking code then
it would appear they aren't violating the GPL.

It's a really short bit of source, too.  Exec a child process with
some arguments, see what it returns, maybe shut off some options.

I found it. This is not a problem at all.

But what about the C32 compiler for the PIC32? I can't see anything
like this there.

The reason I'm asking is because I wanted to try out the PIC32 family
but I can't afford the fee to buy the compiler, and a 64K limit is
quite small for a 32 bit processor.

If I can't have an unlimited compiler then I'll definitely pass on the
PIC32 chip family. The AVR32 has an unrestricted free compiler.

Eric
.