alt Hacker News> if the shape of the architectural boundary is the same as the networked OSC case then I think it’s very reasonable to argue that its aggregation and not derivative.
Where do you got that? The GPLv3 license text only says:
> A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent works, which are not by their nature extensions of the covered work, and which are not combined with it such as to form a larger program, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the compilation and its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit.
The JS/WASM and Erlang modules in SuperSonic are clearly combined to form a larger program. The GPL v3 does not say anything about networking protocols, "architectural boundaries" or sharing internal data structures.
The GPL v3 FAQ further clarifies:
> If the modules are included in the same executable file, they are definitely combined in one program. If modules are designed to run linked together in a shared address space, that almost surely means combining them into one program.
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#MereAggregation
If you use a GPL-licensed library, your whole program must comply with the GPL. That's exactly why the LGPL exists: it adds an exception to the GPL so that a library may be used in a non-GPL program. James could have licensed scsynth under the LGPL, but he did not.
> I also don’t quite know what licenses you’re asking me to change.
The license of the JS and Erlang clients because they call into scsynth code (in the same process).
Fair - the aggregate clause does say “larger program” so I overstated. However, it doesn’t define combination, and “based on the Program” is defined in section 0 via copyright permission - which is why I keep returning to copyright rather than mechanism.
The JS client doesn’t call into scsynth code. In postMessage mode the client and the engine run in separate execution contexts with no shared memory, exchanging serialised OSC - the browser enforces that boundary the same way the kernel does between processes on a socket.
Also, the JS and Erlang clients are entirely my own code and copyright surely their licence isn’t in question. I think the question you’re actually raising is what obligations fall on users who combine their software with SuperSonic. You already state that my approach in Sonic Pi is fine.