My current bane is BlueZ, which used to allow for a compile-time removal of readline but no more.
He was basically saying that seeing readline pulled as one of the dependencies gives him confidence that the tool won't suck. He said nothing about building tools with readline support (implicit or otherwise).
... you did write and release a replacement in the license you like, right? right?
GPLv3 means that you can't use it with the code you write for your job. And there are cases where readline can sneak into the codebase through unintended routes.
I know you get the distinction, but I hear too often that "we can't use GPLv3 software at work" from people who aren't clear on it.
It is. E.g. if you have a contractor working with your company, then giving software can be considered "distribution". And the contractor can gain the right to re-distribute your internal software.
It's OK to use GPL for software that runs in separate processes (e.g. GDB), but readline is really sneaky because it's a library.
(emphasis mine)
