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Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 31 2013 @ 09:11 AM EDT |
Thank you for the opening ad hominem.
"Hint - an api and source code are two completely different things - a
statement about one cannot be used to reason about the other ..."
This is where your mistake and misunderstanding about my logic comes in.
An API and source code are not two completely different things, they are
inseparable.
Firstly an API is not a thing. You can't point at the source code, your program,
or the documentation and say 'that is an API'. It is not, it is merely
information.
Secondly for the abstract concept BSD Sockets API, to have usefulness it is
necessary to have source code and binary code (well source code is not entirely
necessary, but that is splitting hairs....)
The BSD sockets API is not "free" of copyright because of generosity
or openness.
If you wish to have available to you a genuine true BSD sockets API, then you
must download the BSD SOckets API source code (copyrighted and under license)
and then compile it. Even then, what you have compiled the actual binary code
that is going to get called when your program executes an API call, is not free
of copyright. Copyright extends to cover the binary compilation of source
code.
If you wish , you don't have to use the actual BSD code, but whatever code you
do use, probably copyright (yes there might be a public domain one), even if you
write your own it will be covered by your copyright.
The specification document of the BSD Sockets API is covered by copyright.
The user program that makes API calls is covered by copyright.
It is not true to say the BSD sockets API is 'free' of copyright.
It is not, every single part of that which 'makes' the BSD Sockets API concept
into something useful is subject to copyright protection.
The API is totally surrounded by copyright, because it is an abstract concept
and everything that matters to its conceptualisation is protected by copyright.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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