On Wed, 2 Aug 2006, Joerg Schilling wrote:
The GPPL however allows to use code of _any_ license from a GPL project.
No it does not, for the GPL demands that derived works be licenseable
under the GPL without additional restrictions (see section 6). Code
under the CDDL can not be taken and licensed under the GPLv2, for the
CDDL contains restrictions (e.g. the patent clauses) which the GPLv2
does not.
I.e. there is no way to create a work derived of both GPLv2 and CDDL
code without failing to violate /one/ of the licences. Ergo there is
no way to combine CDDL and GPLv2 code.
That's a pretty widely recognised incompatibility really.
For cases where code is combined but no derived work is created, the
whole licence question is, quite obviously, moot and irrelevant.
However, see below about derived works.
Mkisofs is e.g. a GPLd project. It uses libscg and libschily which
are both under CDDL. As this fact does not make libscg/libschily
derived works from mkisofs, there is no problem with this
combination.
Well, what would and what would not constitute a derived work is
something one really would need to seek legal advice on.
My vague understanding is that there are no easy rules of thumb
laymen can follow other than to exercise caution when combining code
and to assume the resulting code /does/ derive, unless one hears
otherwise from professional counsel.
In your example above, there is also a question of whether anyone
would care. I'm guessing that either:
- the author is the same for both the libraries and mkisofs
or
- that the mkisofs authors chose to use CDDL libraries
Which is highly unlikely to ever lead to any sustained legal
problems, for several reasons.
The problem is that the FUD is that you cannot combine CDDL & GPL code...
It is not FUD though I'm afraid.
While it is is unclear what the GPLv3 allows you in addition
to GPLv2, the GPLv2 is clear about what you may do..
Indeed it is.
Why do you write this?
Do you believe that we need GPL code for OpenSolaris?
If the code is useful, why not? The GPL and CDDL aren't very far
removed. And hopefully CDDL and GPL will become compatible with the
GPLv3, which should finish off a lot of these questions.
The other direction of code flow is already permitted
and using GPLd code from OpenSolaris may also possible in case that
OpenSolaris will not become a "derived work" from the GPLd
code.
Which is very difficult to determine generally, see points above. It
all becomes moot if/when GPLv3 allows compatibility.
regards,
--
Paul Jakma [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Key ID: 64A2FF6A
Fortune:
Listen, you big, stupid space-creature. Nobody, but nobody, eats the
Simpsons!
-- Homer Simpson
Treehouse of Horror
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