After hearing the good points brought up in many replies, I agree that
the Google license is problematic for Tuscany. I am going to pursue the
alternate route which is implementing the framework from scratch. As
mentioned in my original comment on the JIRA, the set of classes is not
overwhelming.
Additionally, from a technical perspective, there were problems using
the Google JavaScript client with non-Google services. It is obvious
that the API is geared toward the Google services. When I pointed the
framework to other Atom feeds I ran into several errors which were not
publicly documented. So the JavaScript client appears to require
specific, non-published info for the services it contacts.
Mike Edwards wrote:
First the disclaimer: I'm not a legal expert ;-)
However, the terms that Google lay down in the page which you reference
make me very uncomfortable with the idea of using this code in Tuscany.
It is clear that Google expect their code to be used in conjunction with
their services - since those services are at the core of the legal
agreement on that page. In the case of Tuscany, I am sure that the
intended use of the code is to access *any* service using this client
side library, which is not what Google have in mind.
Second, the agreement requires *each user* to agree to those license
terms - and I can't see this meaning anything other than each and every
user of anything built using Tuscany. This has me heading for the hills
- it is not in any way reasonable for Tuscany to require this.
There is also this scary requirement:
"You agree that if you use the Client Library to develop a service for
other users, you will protect the privacy and legal rights of those users."
-- this is squarely in the middle of what Tuscany does. I think Tuscany
cannot and should not force a term like this onto its users.
As far as I can see, this is not an open source license, so if there are
any bugs in this library, I don't think you have any rights to go
messing with the code. Not a good plan for an Apache project.
OK, that's enough. If what I've said doesn't put you off, then you're a
braver man than I am ;-)
Yours, Mike.
PS If you'd like some help building a library from scratch, count me in.
Dan Becker wrote:
A question for the more legal-wise of the developers. I am
investigating Tuscany-2568
(https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/TUSCANY-2568) which is to
provide a Tuscany JavaScript client model for Atom data.
Luciano and I have discussed the issue a bit, and at this point I am
investigating two possibilities:
1) Grow an Atom Publishing Protocol JavaScript client from scratch
(which is similar to the Abdera Atom model).
2) Use an existing APP JavaScript client model, such as the model that
exists in the Google GData JavaScript client API. Notice that a few of
the Tuscany projects already use the Google GData API, but none that I
have seen have embedded or loaded the GData library from a JavaScript
client.
My question is, if I go down the second route and use the GData model,
does the Apache Open Source licensing coexist peacefully with the
terms of service of the Google Data APIs?
(http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/client-js-terms.html)
If no one knows the answer right off the bat, I will research the
answer myself, but I just wanted to float the question in case anyone
had quick answers or a person to contact.
--
Thanks, Dan Becker
