Re: re-writing algorithms in Guile

[Vivien Kraus via General Guile related discussions <guile-user@gnu.org>]

Le mardi 29 juin 2021 à 09:56 +0200, tomas@tuxteam.de a écrit :
> On Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 04:38:50PM -0500, Tim Meehan wrote:
> > Say for instance, I have found an algorithm for scalar function
> > minimization on a website, written in C. It is posted with a
> license for
> > use. If I write something based on this hypothetical code, is it
> then
> > clearly also licensed in the same manner?
> 
> Definitely not: a license is about copyright, and copyright protects
> the
> expression of an idea, not the idea itself (the Lord of the Rings is
> under
> copyright, but if you write a novel involving very old talking trees,
> you
> dont infringe on that).

The idea is the algorithm, but the expression of the idea is the C
program. If you copy the C program, you are indeed bound by the license
of the C program.

> You might want to not use exactly the same variable names, just to
> make sure :)

I would not do that. It will just make the program harder to read.