> Linux/ELF certainly does support DLLs. Shared libraries (.so's) are > essentially equivalent. I don't think so. DLLs come with a documented, supported API that allows dynamic linking at run time, where both the DLL name and the entry point name can be computed strings. (See my prior point about failure to establish stable higher-level APIs.) DLLs also have explicit control over which names from the link get exported -- they don't automatically export all extern names. This makes DLLs much more suitable as a way to package reusable functionality. > The GPL model may not be the best model in all or even most cases, but > what other way is there to distribute the ownership of (ie. the money) > from a program that has (like many programs) many authors. The GPL model has no direct relationship with the ownership of the code: ownership of the code copyright resides with anyone who has contributed to it (unless they signed away their authorship rights as a condition of employment) regardless of how the code is licensed. The GPL does, of course, encourage multi-author software -- perhaps this was your point. The GPL model for distributing the money also bears no relation to either the authorship or the ownership of the code. The only people who can make money from GPL'ed code are distributors and service providers. Authors / copyright holders have no special advantages. Indeed, authors are at a special DISadvantage, because the money they can make from distribution and services per unit total effort is much lower (they have to create the software AND distribute or support it, rather than leveraging others' unpaid creative effort and just doing distribution or support). The GPL is a fine way to distribute the *benefits* of multi-author software, but, in my opinion, not a good way to distribute the *rewards* of creating it. -- L. Peter Deutsch | Aladdin Enterprises :::: ghost@aladdin.com 203 Santa Margarita Ave. | tel. +1-415-322-0103 (AM only); fax +1-415-322-1734 Menlo Park, CA 94025 | http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/index.html "Implementation is the sincerest form of flattery."