At 10:48 AM 07/20/2000 -0700, you wrote:

>Helen Borrie wrote:
> > >But writing an application that manipulates or
> > >integrates with a GPLed app will not infect me.
> >
> > Tim,
> > How will your code interface with the database?
>
>Exactly! I assume there must be a MySQL client library, analogous to
>InterBase's gds32.dll. As soon as you link your application code with
>MySQL's client library (unless that library is a special exception to
>the license), you're GPL'd.

I am not sure about the libraries of mySQL but I know that mysql has both
odbc and jdbc drivers. If I write an application that uses these drivers it
would not obligate me to GPL my code (even though the drivers may
themselves be GPLed). You are only subject to license if your code is
somehow a derivative of a GPLed code.

>That's apparently how MySQL hopes to make money. By charging fees to
>people who want to use MySQL under a different license. But their GPL
>license is good for people who want to "try before you buy".

This seems weird to me. I seriously doubt that once a code is GPLed it can
be un GPLed. The purpose of GPL is to prevent just that. I suppose they
could have two forks for the code base a pre and a post GPL and they hope
to sell the pre GPL fork but this seems like a dicey business plan.


:wq
Tim Uckun
Due Diligence Inc. http://www.diligence.com/ Americas Background
Investigation Expert.
If your company isn't doing background checks, maybe you haven't considered
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