On Mon, Mar 06, 2017 at 11:28:23AM -0500, Randy Barlow wrote:
Hello!
Remi Collet noted in a package review[0] I submitted that there is some
unclear wording about the licensing of the package. The readme[1] says:
> It was previously stated that this package is on MIT license, which
> did not meet the requirements set by the original author. It is now
> under the GNU GPL v3 license, so if you wish to use it in a
> commercial project, you need to pay an appropriate fee.
The
pchart.net license page[2] says even more, but also has a slight
contradiction I think:
> The pChart library is released under two different licenses. If your
> application is not a commercial one (eg: you make no money by
> redistributing it) then the GNU GPLv3 license (General Public
> License) applies. This license allows you to freely integrate this
> library in your applications, modify the code and redistribute it in
> bundled packages as long as your application is also distributed with
> the GPL license.
>
> If your application can't meet the GPL license or is a commercial one
> (eg: the library is integrated in a software or an appliance you're
> selling) then you'll have to buy a commercial license. With this
> license you don't need to make publicly available your application
> code under the GPL license terms.
The slight contradiction I referenced is the "if you can't meet the
GPL" bit. The first paragraph specifically cites making money by
redistributing, but the second paragraph sounds like they think it's OK
if you follow the GPL terms. It's confusing. I think Remi is right to
say that we need to get clarification before we can add this package to
Fedora.
I think this package cannot be added to Fedora because of the
statements made by the pChart author suggesting that commercial use is
not permitted.
Richard