"Lawrence Rosen" <lrosen@rosenlaw.com> wrote on 06/14/2007 06:46:45 PM:
> So in the context of Noel's original question about the MySQL JDBC
> driver, do you agree that there would be no license conflict even if
> we distribute verbatim copies of a GPLv3 driver upon which *our
software*
> depends, as long as that driver doesn't itself depend upon Apache code?
Yes, as long as Apache is shipping the GPLv3 driver under GPLv3, which
means that the Apache package as a whole would no longer be licensed in
such a way as to allow commercial relicensing.
>
> Perhaps *our policies* impose different rules because of what you
> call "license surprise", but there's not a license conflict in Noel's
example.
Right.
>
> That would be a nice parallel. GPLv3 software can depend upon Apache
> software because GPLv3 is now compatible with the Apache License.
> And Apache software can depend on GPLv3 software because we're only
> using verbatim copies in collective works. The world of FOSS is more
> compatible than ever.
>
One way to look at it. However, its also the case that Apache code can be
taken and dropped in the middle of GPLv3 projects (since Apache's license
is liberal and allows Derivative Works to be relicensed), but GPLv3 code
cannot be taken and dropped into Apache projects, as the GPLv3 would
require that the original Apache code be relicensed under GPLv3.
I think that's a real concern that Apache needs to figure out how to
handle. Even though the FSF has declared GPLv3 and Apache to be
compatible, the projects cannot cross-pollenate. If a GPLv3 project takes
some Apache code and evolves it, the Apache committers need to be on the
lookout for people trying to contribute those changes back to Apache by
mistake. I don't know how they are going to do that since the code will
likely still have the Apache copyright and license notice in it. Has
anyone thought about how to do that?
Jeff
Counsel, IBM Corporation (914)766-1757 (tie)8-826 (fax) -8160
(notes) jthom@ibmus (internet) jthom@us.ibm.com (home) jeff@beff.net
(web) http://www.beff.net/
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