On Monday, July 16, 2012 1:12:55 AM UTC-7, fabrizio.giudici wrote: > > On Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:45:09 +0200, Grant Robertson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >Would this "bundling" be counted as "linking" under the GPL > > and require all my code to be GPL? > > No, you don't. OpenJDK is released trough a variant GPL + ClassPath > Exception (CPE), which means that "linking" to the runtime API doesn't > trigger the virality of GPL. You don't need to provide source code, just > keep the standard README, LICENSE etc... of OpenJDK where the source URL > is linked and you're fine. >
According to the OpenJDK FAQ [http://openjdk.java.net/faq/], "almost all of the virtual machine" is under GPL2, WITHOUT the CPE. This particular followup question (just a few lines up) was about "bundling" the virtual machine into an application as you suggested. However, the answer you give only applies to just the Java code and the libraries. > > Would it be possible to run NetBeans on Oracle's JRE while still writing > > Java code based on the OpenJDK. I remember from school that NetBeans > > allows > > one to specify which version of the JDK to compile with. Can one simply > > > add > > the OpenJDK to that list and then choose between OpenJDK and Oracle's > > JDK? > > Yes. NetBeans can manage multiple Java platforms associated to each > project. > But can it manage the OpenJDK platform, specifically? THAT was my question. I guess I will just have to find out for myself. > Well, my point is: OpenJDK is used by a lot of people and it's part of the > > Linux distros (they don't carry any longer the Oracle bits). This means > that a number of license experts have done their homework and presume > OpenJDK is fine to be redistributed. In point of fact, it only means that OpenJDK fits with a model that Linux distribution providers are comfortable with. Considering that Linux is GPL, it seems to me that Linux distribution providers would not have as much trouble with the viral nature of the GPL'd parts of OpenJDK. In addition, a Linux distribution that contains the OpenJDK JRE only does so via including it in an archive for separate installation, NOT as part of a program. The former is specifically addressed in the GPL, while the latter is a bit of a gray area. Which is why I asked the question, which I will restate mor explicitly: Would bundling the OpenJDK JRE into an application, to be run ONLY as part of that application, then constitute "linking" as far as the GPL is concerned, thus triggering the copy-left provisions of GPL because "almost all of the virtual machine" (the JRE) is full GPL? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Java Posse" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/javaposse/-/2OgjQBlakqkJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
