On 18 Feb 2026 03:17, Peter Dimov via Boost wrote:
The situation here is, you read GPL code, and then you write your own code using only the knowledge you've obtained, without reproducing any code snippet exactly or approximately (e.g. only changing the identifiers.)
Is your code GPL?
No, because the license covers the form, not the idea. Though, depending on how closely the newly written code resembles the original, it could be difficult to distinguish this case from just modifying the original code and forming a derivative work, which would be covered by GPL. But this ambiguity is not specific to GPL, the same would be the case with any other license.
That's, incidentally, why I dislike the GPL. It's a trap because it gives you the code to read and then claims that you don't have the right to use the knowledge so obtained.
I dislike GPL because it forces people to release their own work under GPL. IMO, people should be able to decide how their work should be used.