A (L)GPL question I can't get a good read on:

[joshjers@mastodon.gamedev.place]

A (L)GPL question I can't get a good read on:

Let's say I find a github repository for an algorithm that has the LGPL license. The readme has a rough description of the algorithm (not exact but enough to get the high-level gist).

If I implement my own code based solely on that description on the frontpage of the repository (never looking at the actual code), am I free from LGPL restrictions? Or would I still be running afoul of the "you gotta open source that shit" rules?

[joshjers@mastodon.gamedev.place]

It feels like this would be effectively clean-rooming the algorithm (still have to figure out corner cases, etc) since it's not an exact list of steps (more a couple examples) and, again, never gonna look at the actual code

[aeva@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@JoshJers implementing an algorithm from a high-level description without consulting the code of an existing implementation is clean-rooming

[joshjers@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@aeva Okay, that's what I figured but the fact that the documentation is *in* the repository (and thus possibly subject to the license) is what gave me pause

Thanks 😀

[aeva@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@JoshJers don't copy the documentation verbatim into your project