GENERAL PUBLIC VIRUS

Domain	Definition
Computing	General Public Virus n. Pejorative name for some versions of the GNU project copyleft or General Public License (GPL), which requires that any tools or apps 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 as of January 1991 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. Source: Jargon File.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Anagrams: GENERAL PUBLIC VIRUS

Scrabble® YAWL-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-b-c-e-e-g-i-i-l-l-n-p-r-r-s-u-u-v"
	-5 letters: republicanise.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Alternative Orthography: GENERAL PUBLIC VIRUS

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

HTML Code (1990) (references)

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Specialty Definition: GENERAL PUBLIC VIRUS