Github user greghogan commented on the issue:
https://github.com/apache/flink/pull/5134
@pnowojski see FLINK-2848 and FLINK-2973. Also the BSD + Patents
conversation along with Flink's dependence on Amazon's Kinesis library
(likewise [Category X](https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-x)).
I now think we have been overly cautious in this regard, not necessarily a bad
thing.
As @StephanEwen noted, the GPL-dependent code must be an [optional
component](https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#optional). We [do
this](https://ci.apache.org/projects/flink/flink-docs-release-1.3/dev/connectors/kinesis.html)
with Kinesis by not releasing convenience binaries but requiring the user to
compile from source with an explicit flag. I think we are safe to include a
`flink-benchmarks` module which is not depended on or included in the Flink
distribution. The benchmarks are Apache licensed, only the dependence on `jmh`
prohibits distribution, so can be included in the (source) release. These are
performance, not integration, tests so would be run manually rather than during
the build.
I agree with @StephanEwen's caution but we would not be releasing GPL code,
it is not obvious that `jmh` is GPL licensed, and Java itself is GPL.
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