On 26.05.2008, at 01:16, Christopher Lenz wrote:
[...]
1. Licensing problem: Javascript Shell
CouchDB includes a JS shell that is derived from <http://www.squarefree.com/shell/
>. Initially it was pretty much a verbatim copy, but it has been
changed to integrate nicely into our Futon web interface. The JS
Shell is, according to the above web page, "GPL/LGPL/MPL tri-
licensed". However, there's no actual license or copyright statement
to be found anywhere.
None of those three licenses are without problems for an Apache
project. See <http://people.apache.org/~rubys/3party.html>. GPL and
LGPL "must not apply to any software within an Apache product", and
the MPL requires "requires that the distribution of modifications or
derivative works be made available under the same license as the
original work".
In addition for the MPL, "Code that is more substantial, more
volatile, or not directly consumed at runtime in source form may
only be distributed in binary form." As the JS shell is just an HTML
and a Javascript file, there's no way we could distribute it in
binary form, so AFAICT it will need to be nuked completely.
Maybe someone with more knowledge of these legal issues can chime in
here.
[...]
This hasn't seen any responses unfortunately.
As far as I can tell the only option is to remove the JS shell
completely. (Well, the other option would be to write a new one from
scratch, but hey, let's be realistic.) In my opinion, you can get a
better shell using Firebug anyway, just browse to the test suite and
open the inner frame in a separate window.
So I'd say if there are no objections to the removal of the JS shell
within the next couple of days, I'll go forward with it. And if you
have objections, you'll need to do the research to make sure there's
no licencing problem lurking here. ;)
Cheers,
--
Christopher Lenz
cmlenz at gmx.de
http://www.cmlenz.net/
