This might be an odd question to ask, but I want to be sure to understand it correctly. When I clone a project in Github that is licensed under GPL-3.0 license, am I allowed to delete bunch of files that I no longer need?

Someone took an old BCX-BASIC program and converted it into C with some additional work to make it compile in Linux, and a Python GUI. The original Basic program is still included in the project. I want to delete everything besides the .c program, license and an include file. I want to add my own Makefile and just create the commandline executable with gcc. And I might change the name of the application too and either create my own GUI or maybe (if its possible) to integrate the C program in Rust or Zig in example, but have to explore this more.

But the files that were included there, the legacy BASIC program and some other files, are licensed under GPL-3 too. Am I allowed to just delete those files from the project?

  • thingsiplay@beehaw.orgOP
    2·
    7 months ago

    And I appreciate the help in understanding the subject. I am actually someone who reads licenses and sometimes dig into terms to get an understanding of very specific subjects, but got a bit too comfortable lately and need to catch up. I plan on reading the GPLv3 too, but this needs a bit time and effort. So until then I’ll ask around.