Matthew Saltzman <mjs(a)clemson.edu> wrote:
On Thu, 2008-06-19 at 12:59 -0300, Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> On Jun 18, 2008, Matthew Saltzman <mjs(a)clemson.edu> wrote:
>
> > Then can we at least agree that there are sometimes unfortunate
> > consequences to the GPL's failure to permit one to share a work
> > combining two pieces of *free* software because of relatively minor[1]
> > license incompatibilities?
> Yeah, it's unfortunate when this happens. In general,
authors who use
> the GPL for its intended purpose (ensuring the 4 freedoms are
> respected for all users) won't object to the combination of their
> works with other works that respect users' freedoms, and will grant
> additional permissions for the combinations in spite of the license
> conflicts.
> Of course, not everyone does that, and some people who would
like to
> create such combinations may even not realize that this possibility
> exists, or think it's not worth the effort.
Would not the world then be a better place if the GPL permitted such
combinations to start with? That would simplify this process enormously
and help spread free software.
... into all sorts of non-free combinations. The GPL is as it is for a
purpose, else the BSD/MIT license (or just public domain) would be enough.
> So, yeah, it's unfortunate, but I don't think it's
really such a big
> deal. Nearly all Free Software *is* available under the GPL and
> compatible licenses anyway.
Maybe all the free software *you* use...
Most of what is out there, by all surveys I've seen.
PHP, for example, is not under GPL. When MySQL changed its free
distribution from LGPL to GPL, that almost put an end to the php-mysql
library. The end result was MySQL's free software exception clause,
which they added to the GPL to create their license.
Fixed. See?
I work on a free software project (very widely known in my field)
that
is primarily CPL. GPL compatibility is a problem for us. We also need
to interface to proprietary libraries. I have little hope that I can
get permission from all the contributors' employers to dual license.
No simple answers there. In any case, GPL /allows/ you to do certain
things, and you are getting this software because people feel confortable
distributing under GPL. At least it is interoperable in itself.
Plenty of companies that would be willing to release free software
are
leery of releasing it as GPL
Why?
and of using GPL software.
Now that is completely unwarranted.
Whether
their
concerns are well founded or not, the compatibility issues are still
there.
But they are way less than trying to combine stuff under the typical
assortment of privative licenses in any case... have you looked in detail
at that kind of mess?
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