On Jun 19, 2011, at 11:46 PM, Miya Guo wrote: > Hello every bodies here :) > > I am a developer from Asia, now my company want to use Geronimo as > server part in our new commercial project. > > I know the license of Geronimo is Apache License 2.0, which is > friendly to commercial project. > But I also notice that in the downloaded folder, there is a file named > "LICENSE", which lists a great amount of sub-licenses for those > dependent packages used by Geronimo. > So I am confused and I can't confrim whether our commercial project > could use Geronimo freely or not. > (My English is poor so I can not understand the legal terms in those > licenses.) > > Could anyone here tell me "whether our commercial project could use > Genorimo freely or not?". > Thanks very much.
Hi First, please note -- we will not be able to offer you legal advice. I am not a lawyer. So, if you are looking for a legal opinion, I urge you to seek qualified legal counsel. Here's information about the legal affairs committee at the ASF -- http://www.apache.org/legal/ There is a mailing list ([email protected]) for discussion of legal matters. You are welcome to ask your questions on this list. However, it's likely that you'll find the same answers, there... Here is an FAQ for license related questions at the ASF -- http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ.html For more specific information about AL v2 and 3rd party licenses, see -- http://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html It is the Geronimo project's opinion that our software conforms to the Software License Criteria established by the ASF. As you note, we do include a number of 3rd party binary dependencies. We feel that all of these dependencies fall under either the Category A classification (http://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-a) or Category B "Weak Copyleft" classificaiton (see http://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#category-b). Finally, please note the ASF's policy for trademarks -- http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/ > > Comment: > Below is some usage scenarios of Geronimo in our commercial project: > 1. Only use binary format, it means we won't modify any source code of > Genorimo (include dependent packages). > 2. It is used as application server in our commercial project. > 3. This commercial project will be sold as a solution to the customers. In my non-qualified opinion, I see no problems with the above -- as long as you conform to the requirements of the Apache License. I think the following link is your best guide -- http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ.html#WhatDoesItMEAN . Will repeat -- I urge you to seek out specific legal advice from qualified individuals. All that said -- would be very happy to see you *using* and *redistributing* our software. Look forward to working with you in the future... --kevan
