On Thu, 2006-01-19 at 12:48 +0100, Jeroen Dekkers wrote:
Because you don't distribute (or propagate in GPLv3 terms) anything when running a test suite on a program, I don't see how the GPL could enforce anything about test suites.
I guess if the program is complex enough and the output needs to be correct, you can argue that the source without the test suite is not the complete source code (not the preferred form for modification).
It would be a bit like if the program was originally coded full of pre- and post- conditions and tests, but those were stripped out in the released source. The test suite is like a builder's scaffolding, and removing it potentially makes the job a lot harder. But, I'm not sure this is anything more than a bizarre corner case.
Cheers,
Alex.