[fpc-pascal] Questions

[Marco van de Voort]

In our previous episode, James Buren said:
> I have some questions about the RTL and FPC and how it effects what
> license I can use for my source.
> 
> 1) Does FPC impose any license restrictions for the programs I compile
> with it?

Only via the RTL.
 
> 2) Does the RTL impose a license restriction if all I do is link my
> program to it?

LGPL with static linking exception. See COPYING.FPC in your distribution.

> 3) Any thing else I should know about the license conditions?

Some of the header sets in packages/ can have other licenses, usually more
liberal, or MPL-LGPL dual license. The external packages that are linked to
(like mysql) can have pretty much any license, GPL and worse.
 
> 4) Finally, are there any good books or similar that would help with
> learning the free pascal implementation of extensions to the original
> pascal? All I seem to have to go on is a basic tutorial introduction and
> the reference manual for the compiler.

No, but you can use most Delphi sources (the core dialect roughly up to D7)
since FPC's pedigree is more oriented towards Turbo Pascal-Delphi. The
extensions relative to those are relative minor.

If you have extensive standard or ISO Pascal sources, Scott Moore's page has
a reasonable list of differences between Turbo Pascal derivatives and
standard Pascal.