Pejorative name for some versions of the {GNU} project {copyleft} or
General Public License (GPL), which requires that any tools or {app}s
incorporating copylefted code must be source-distributed on the same
anti-proprietary terms as GNU stuff. Thus it is alleged that the
copyleft `infects' software generated with GNU tools, which may in
turn infect other software that reuses any of its code. The Free
Software Foundation's official position is that copyright law limits
the scope of the GPL to "programs textually incorporating significant
amounts of GNU code", and that the `infection' is not passed on to
third parties unless actual GNU source is transmitted. Nevertheless,
widespread suspicion that the {copyleft} language is `boobytrapped'
has caused many developers to avoid using GNU tools and the GPL.
Changes in the language of the version 2.0 GPL did not eliminate this
problem.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {copyleft}{GNU}{GPL}{GPV}]