-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi,
I'm writing some test code to see how I could control VirtualBox VMs from the software I'm developing. So I had a look at the SDK. After fiddling with the SDK a bit, I read that it's possible to use a "Glue library", instead of doing raw XPCOM calls (see top comment of the sdk/bindings/xpcom/samples/tstVBoxAPILinux.cpp file: "However, if you want to write a real application, it is highly recommended to use our MS COM XPCOM Glue library and helper C++ classes."). I couldn't find the headers for that "Glue" library in the SDK, so I had a look in the VirtualBox OSE source. Apparently the files I'm looking for are the one in vbox/include/com/(from the SVN repo). But, my problem is the following: those headers are dual licensed with GPL _v2 ONLY_, and the CDDL v1. The software I'm developing (the one that would use and link to that "Glue" library) will be dual licensed too, under a proprietary license (very similar to VirtualBox PUEL license), and GPL _v3_. Meaning that thanks to the CDDL, the proprietary license won't be a problem (CDDL grants me that right, if I'm not mistaken), but GPL v3 doesn't allow me to link to code licensed with GPL v2 ONLY (according to http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#AllCompatibility). That seems a bit absurd: I can provide binaries that use that "Glue" library and no source code (under my proprietary license), but I can't use it in the Open Source version... So my question is this: if I'm not mistaken in my analysis of licenses compatibility, could it be possible that Sun considers adding GPL v3 as an exception in the COPYING file, or relicenses the "Glue" library under LGPL (or anything else that is compatible with GPL v3). Since the SDK doesn't have a license at the moment (I already notified this to the staff on IRC), maybe it would be a good move to license it under the LGPL, and move the "Glue" library code into it. If this not the best place to ask legalese related questions, please point me to the right one :) Sincerely, Florian Vichot -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkmkjy4ACgkQgRp+dNkqn6/QQwCeK3tUEKCTs0vSZBBR4KC2tjM4 9UkAn1TkiBtirlmkxLvqSlRvVibLxIg8 =dUAT -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ vbox-dev mailing list [email protected] http://vbox.innotek.de/mailman/listinfo/vbox-dev
