On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 8:50 PM, Greg Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > I was under the impression that we could include code that relies on an > external library with an incompatible license, as long as we don't > redistribute it or attempt to misrepresent it as "part" of Pivot. Is this not > correct? In other words, are Apache projects specifically disallowed from > using binary components from other non-Apache projects that don't have > compatible licenses? > >>I think you have 3 options; >> >> 1. Rebuild the same functionality using a library that has a >>permissible license. >> >> 2. Stick that component at SourceForge or similar. >> >> 3. Create an SPI in Pivot, to which one can plug in an underlying >>implementation. You will need a bit of 'bridge code', which you stick >>in SF. > > The skin essentially serves this purpose. If we have to, we can pretty easily > remove it and source it elsewhere.
Well, when I tried to build your code, it complained about some missing classes in org.jfree packages. That means that you do have a dependency in your code, that you want Apache to eventually sign-off on, and that is not allowed. You are not allowed to have; Pivot --> SFproj --> GPL/LGPL-proj where "-->" means dependsOn. But you ARE allowed to do so called bridge implementations; Pivot <-- SFproj --> GPL/LGPL-proj Notice that the Pivot project is "free" from the viral effects, which travels along the dependency graph. For this to work, you typically create some form of SPI which will take advantage of some type of plugin that is providing the functionality you are looking for. From ASF legal perspective, it is important that "Pivot" will work without using the 'plugin'. It will also mean that there is no "JFree system requirement" or JFree being in distro or part of the build at all. Cheers -- Niclas Hedhman, Software Developer http://www.qi4j.org - New Energy for Java I live here; http://tinyurl.com/2qq9er I work here; http://tinyurl.com/2ymelc I relax here; http://tinyurl.com/2cgsug
