[Bug libc/18286] New: Please incorporate libffcall

["gabriel.schulhof at intel dot com" <sourceware-bugzilla at sourceware dot org>]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=18286

            Bug ID: 18286
           Summary: Please incorporate libffcall
           Product: glibc
           Version: unspecified
            Status: NEW
          Severity: enhancement
          Priority: P2
         Component: libc
          Assignee: unassigned at sourceware dot org
          Reporter: gabriel.schulhof at intel dot com
                CC: drepper.fsp at gmail dot com

Closures are becoming increasingly important in C, as it interfaces with
libraries written in all kinds of languages. libffcall is a simple and
effective library for creating C closures, and it provides support for a great
many platforms.

The main reason I would like to see this happen is not so much technical, but
more one of licensing.

ffcall is released under GPLv2 (if you look at the file COPYING inside the
tarball) or GPLv3 (if you look at its project page at
https://www.gnu.org/software/libffcall/) - kind of confusing as to which one,
actually.

Either way, this presents difficulties when attempting to use it for writing
bindings for other C libraries, because those C libraries may or may not be
GPL-licensed and, if I understood
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesCompatMean correctly, that
would mean that the bindings would have to be released under the GPLv2, which
may or may not be desirable.

If libffcall were to be incorporated into glibc, the system library exception
would apply, in which case it could be used with a lot fewer legal headaches.

On the technical side, this would give the C library a clean and elegant
implementation of C closures.

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