Greetings

[Tim Angus]

monk at rq3.com wrote:
> If you make a GPL'ed piece of software, any closed-source libraries that
> it requires to run, say, win32, cannot be forced to become GPL.

This is not true. A GPLed application categorically requires libraries 
to be GPL compatible. Perhaps you're getting confused with the GPL 
exception for runtime libraries? In any case, you should probably read:

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLIncompatibleLibs

> As long as UrT, the mod, still works on both vanilla Q3 and on ioq3,
> there's no reason the mod should fall under the GPL.  If UrT ONLY worked
> on ioq3, THEN it would have to fall under the GPL.

You've got the dependency backwards here. ioUrT depends on UrT as this 
is its BASEGAME. Since ioUrT is GPL, any libraries on which it depends 
must be GPL compatible. The Q3 mod SDK license, which is used by UrT, is 
not GPL compatible. Therefore it violates the GPL.

Furthermore, said Q3 mod SDK license states that any distributed works 
are for use with "QUAKE III ARENA" only. By inference this means not 
ioq3. Therefore it violates the Q3 mod SDK license.

> UrT did it pretty much the only way you can do it to remain
> closed-source and probably the way I would have gone about it if I wanted
> to keep a mod closed source.

If they were distribtuing UrT and ioUrT as separate entities, they 
probably could get away with it (although the ioUrT dependency on UrT is 
still potentially an issue).

I conveyed most of my thoughts on this whole debacle on the UrT forums, 
but the thread got locked without any real reaction from the people 
responsible. They're just avoiding the issue if you ask me.