> another problem is the fact that to implement the OJI interface,
> you need to subclass netscape's NPL XPCOM stuff. This creates a
> derivative work, which again must be places under the NPL. Now
> you've got NPL and GPL licenses on different pieces of the same
> distribution.
What, is that XPCOM stuff proprietary ? If it is, then the "OpenJava"
interface is not 'open' in any real sense. You can write a GPL'ed VM,
such as Japhar, because the public interfaces to the Java Core API is
placed in the public domain. (Not that Sun explicitly says so; but,
although I'm not a lawyer, I strongly suspect that it is Sun's loudly
stated intent in labelling Java as a 'standard' to make it so.) I
would expect the same reasoning to apply to any public *interface*
specified by Netscape.
Of course, if you have to use some of their *implementation* to
conform to the the OpenJava interface, and these implementation bits
are NPLed, then indeed there is an incompatibility.
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Laurent Bossavit
NetDIVE Paris offices (o o)
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