On 24/06/15 19:47, Jakub Księżniak wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for all feedback. I've read a bit about licensing and I came up
with some thoughts.
1. To write a fully functional client application, a network protocol
must be implemented to communicate with other side. In this case, the
only available reference is a source code of Xpra and wiki pages.
Correct.
2. Unfortunately the documentation found on the wiki is not
sufficient, as for example I had to learn from Java sample code what
capabilities must be sent in a Hello packet in order to connect to the
server. Without it, it's impossible to get a reasonable response, not
to mention about other features.
Yes, that's unfortunate.
3. If the Xpra protocol was described in some official document like
RFC6143 for the RFB protocol, then I could base on it instead of the
Xpra sources.
Indeed, the documentation on the wiki is fairly complete if not up to
date, it could be turned into an RFC, given time...
The flags
To sum up, it appears that my code is a "derived work" and thus the
only option is to choose a GPL license. :-(
That is my interpretation - but not necessarily the right one!
Then, I'll change license information on Github with my next commit.
I really don't like this outcome because it sounds like I am forcing a
license (GPL) on your code, one that I didn't even choose to begin
with... and I have no personal preference for it in any case.
So I hope that someone else can suggest a way out of this conundrum.
Cheers
Antoine
PS: I found the O'Reilly book " Intellectual Property and Open Source":
http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596517960.do
very relevant to this discussion. In particular chapters 12 and 13.
Thanks,
Jakub Księżniak
23 cze 2015 10:02 "Antoine Martin" <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> napisał(a):
Hi,
On 22/06/15 22:47, Jakub Księżniak wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been writing an Android Xpra client for some time now
(maybe you
> remember our previous conversation on a mailing list). It took
me quite a
> lot of time to make a barely working app, but here it is. :) You can
> download source code from Github and build it by yourself:
> https://github.com/jksiezni/xpra-client
Good stuff!
I think this should replace the current "official" Android client,
which
was never more than a quick and dirty proof of concept.
> Moreover, I've got some concerns regarding licensing. I'd like
to share my
> code on terms of Apache License 2.0 and I'd like to know if it
is OK with
> you.
This is not entirely up to me and IANAL.
My understanding is that if you've developed your code using a "clean
room design", then you can use any license you want for your code.
Otherwise, you probably fall under the "derived work" and
therefore are
bound by the GPL.
I did write a lot of information on the wiki to try to make it
easier to
implement new clients without referring to the actual code (though
most
of it may be slightly out of date), starting here:
http://xpra.org/trac/wiki/NetworkProtocol
To make matters more complicated: although I would be quite happy to
re-license all of my code under a different license, which would cover
100% of the Java client for example (assuming you read some code and
that this is what you used)... but then again, by definition (since I
wrote a large portion of the GPL2+ xpra code) not using a "clean room
design", I don't think I could re-license it under anything less
restrictive than the GPL. And even if this was possible, I'm not sure
you could apply it retroactively - but maybe?
And it also depends what jurisdiction you fall under... etc.
> Also, I've added an Xpra icon to the android project, which
makes an app
> much more recognizable. But it requires your permission, if I'm not
> mistaken. So, do you agree, to use the Xpra icon in this project?
No problem from me here... this icon is a bit too close to the
official
X11 icon, and I should probably have sought permission from them...
I just wanted to get something done quickly, many years ago, and
did not
foresee the project getting as successful as it is now.
The project also covers a lot more than just plain-X11 servers now, so
this may be a good time to come up with a better icon?
(there are also requirements for 1024x1024 to get into the Apple
appstore)
> Any feedback would be appreciated.
I'm hoping others can chime in, hopefully with more experience in
this area.
Cheers
Antoine
PS: Some pointers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_room_design
http://hoviblog.blogspot.fr/2008/10/clean-room-defeats-software.html
" For purposes of proving such a claim of copyright or trade secret
misappropriation, it is not necessary to prove that actual copying
occurred. It is sufficient to show that (1) the accused party had
access
to the code, and (2) the accused party's code is substantially similar
to the claimant's code."
I have no idea what "substantially similar" means here!
>
> Regards,
> Jakub Księżniak
> _______________________________________________
> shifter-users mailing list
> [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
> http://lists.devloop.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/shifter-users
_______________________________________________
shifter-users mailing list
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
http://lists.devloop.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/shifter-users
_______________________________________________
shifter-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.devloop.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/shifter-users
