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Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 11:43:29 -0500
From: Stefano Mazzocchi <stefano@apache.org>
Organization: Apache Software Foundation
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To: harmony-dev@incubator.apache.org
Subject: Re: Full disclosure
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Anthony Green wrote:
> On Mon, 2005-11-28 at 07:16 -0800, Leo Simons wrote:
>> I didn't take notes but one of the many things I took away from this is that it might
>> be a real good idea to try and see if classpath can be LGPLed; Mark seemed to think
>> that is not an unattainable goal. When I get my hands on some spare time (I hope it'll
>> be under the christmas tree) I hope to push forward om some of that.
> 
> I don't understand this.  The GNU Classpath license was designed to be
> even more liberal than the LGPL.  What makes relicensing GNU Classpath
> to LGPL a good idea?

If the ASF and the FSF find an agreement on linking to and/or bundling 
LGPL material in an apache licensed distribution (and this finally seems 
likely to happen), then we would have the first ever licensing bridge 
between the two worlds.

Unfortunately, this bridge won't work for the GPL + exception, as it 
would need to be reconsidered and knowing how careful both sides are in 
terms of 'polluting their principles', I can tell you right now it might 
well take forever and a half. Granted, the existence of the LGPL bridge 
would help mitigate the fears of the most radical on both sides (yes, 
they exist), but it will take some time nevertheless.

If (and I say *IF*, I'm not suggesting anything to anybody) GNU 
Classpath was to relicense or even simply dual license itself as LGPL, 
it would make it possible to *automatically* have Harmony use that 
licensing bridge without further legal issues.

full disclosure: I am *perfectly* aware of how bizarre all this sounds. 
Yet, building bridges is a long, painful and destabilizing process, 
especially for those who like to live in islands and feel, naively, that 
isolation is another word for purity. And yes, I'm pointing fingers to 
the ASF first.

Sometimes, it's easier to rewrite some code than to convince people to 
relicense.

Sometimes, it's easier to relicense some code than to convince people 
that mixing two licenses is: a) legal and b) useful for their ultimate goal.

Sometimes, it's easier to tell everybody to f**k off and spend your life 
with your family/girlfriends/friends instead.

At times, my life feels like a quantum superimposition of the above 
three states ;-)

-- 
Stefano.