The Tale of the GCC Runtime Library Exception
CEME 1212 | Fri 07 Aug 5:30 p.m.–6:15 p.m.
Presented by
-
Bradley M. Kühn
@bkuhn@copyleft.org
https://ebb.org/bkuhn
Bradley M. Kühn is the Policy Fellow and
Hacker-in-Residence at
Software Freedom Conservancy
("SFC") and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the copyleft-next
license. Kühn began his work in the software
freedom movement as a volunteer in 1992 — as an early adopter of
Linux-based systems and contributor to various FOSS projects, including
Perl.
Kühn worked during the 1990s as a system administrator and software
developer for various companies, and also spent one year teaching high
school Advanced Placement Computer Science. As FSF's Executive Director
from 2001–2005, Kühn led FSF's GPL enforcement, launched its Associate
Member program, and invented the copyleft network services clause found
in the Affero GPL. Kühn was SFC's primary volunteer from 2006–2010, and
became its first staff person in 2011. Kühn's work at SFC focuses on
enforcement of copyleft and the GPL
Agreements, FOSS
licensing policy, and non-profit infrastructural solutions for FOSS.
Kühn holds a summa cum laude B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola
University in
Maryland, and an
M.S. in Computer Science from the University of
Cincinnati. Kühn's Master's
thesis discussed methods for
dynamic interoperability of FOSS programming languages. Kühn received
the 2012 Open Source Award, and the 2021 Award for the Advancement of
Free Software --- both in recognition for his lifelong policy work on
copyleft licensing and its enforcement.
Kühn writes about his work on SFC\'s
blog and as
\@bkuhn@copyleft.org on the Fediverse (via
Mastodon){rel="me"}.
-
Karen Sandler
@karen@floss.social
@o0karen0o
Karen M. Sandler is an attorney and the executive director of Software Freedom Conservancy, a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on ethical technology. As a patient deeply concerned with the technology in her own body, Karen is known as a cyborg lawyer for her advocacy for free software as a life-or-death issue, particularly in relation to the software on medical devices. She co-organizes Outreachy, the award-winning outreach program for people who face under-representation, systemic bias, or discrimination in tech. She is an adjunct Lecturer-In-Law of Columbia Law School and a visiting scholar at University of California Santa Cruz.
Prior to joining Software Freedom Conservancy, Karen was the executive director of the GNOME Foundation. Before that, she was the general counsel of the Software Freedom Law Center. She began her career as a lawyer at Clifford Chance and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Karen received her law degree from Columbia Law School where she was a James Kent Scholar and co-founder of the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review. She also holds a bachelor of science in engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Sandler has won awards for her work on behalf of software freedom, including the O’Reilly Open Source Award in 2011. She received an honorary doctorate from KU Leuven in 2023.
Bradley M. Kühn
@bkuhn@copyleft.org
https://ebb.org/bkuhn
Bradley M. Kühn is the Policy Fellow and Hacker-in-Residence at Software Freedom Conservancy ("SFC") and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the copyleft-next license. Kühn began his work in the software freedom movement as a volunteer in 1992 — as an early adopter of Linux-based systems and contributor to various FOSS projects, including Perl.
Kühn worked during the 1990s as a system administrator and software developer for various companies, and also spent one year teaching high school Advanced Placement Computer Science. As FSF's Executive Director from 2001–2005, Kühn led FSF's GPL enforcement, launched its Associate Member program, and invented the copyleft network services clause found in the Affero GPL. Kühn was SFC's primary volunteer from 2006–2010, and became its first staff person in 2011. Kühn's work at SFC focuses on enforcement of copyleft and the GPL Agreements, FOSS licensing policy, and non-profit infrastructural solutions for FOSS. Kühn holds a summa cum laude B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola University in Maryland, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati. Kühn's Master's thesis discussed methods for dynamic interoperability of FOSS programming languages. Kühn received the 2012 Open Source Award, and the 2021 Award for the Advancement of Free Software --- both in recognition for his lifelong policy work on copyleft licensing and its enforcement.
Kühn writes about his work on SFC\'s blog and as \@bkuhn@copyleft.org on the Fediverse (via Mastodon){rel="me"}.
Karen Sandler
@karen@floss.social
@o0karen0o
Karen M. Sandler is an attorney and the executive director of Software Freedom Conservancy, a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on ethical technology. As a patient deeply concerned with the technology in her own body, Karen is known as a cyborg lawyer for her advocacy for free software as a life-or-death issue, particularly in relation to the software on medical devices. She co-organizes Outreachy, the award-winning outreach program for people who face under-representation, systemic bias, or discrimination in tech. She is an adjunct Lecturer-In-Law of Columbia Law School and a visiting scholar at University of California Santa Cruz.
Prior to joining Software Freedom Conservancy, Karen was the executive director of the GNOME Foundation. Before that, she was the general counsel of the Software Freedom Law Center. She began her career as a lawyer at Clifford Chance and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Karen received her law degree from Columbia Law School where she was a James Kent Scholar and co-founder of the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review. She also holds a bachelor of science in engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Sandler has won awards for her work on behalf of software freedom, including the O’Reilly Open Source Award in 2011. She received an honorary doctorate from KU Leuven in 2023.
Abstract
The GCC Runtime Library Exception (RTLE) was created for GCC and related toolchain projects to move to GPLv3. Additionally, the RTLE solved a standing technical limitation regarding worry of Intermediate Representations (IRs) from GCC sneakily allowing proprietary compiler optimizations.
The solution is complex, but it works to solve the problem on all fronts. The people on this panel were all involved with the creation of the RTLE and will discuss its history and help developers understand why it works, and how to explain to their employers that it solves their problems, too.
The GCC Runtime Library Exception (RTLE) was created for GCC and related toolchain projects to move to GPLv3. Additionally, the RTLE solved a standing technical limitation regarding worry of Intermediate Representations (IRs) from GCC sneakily allowing proprietary compiler optimizations.
The solution is complex, but it works to solve the problem on all fronts. The people on this panel were all involved with the creation of the RTLE and will discuss its history and help developers understand why it works, and how to explain to their employers that it solves their problems, too.