>
> > > On Friday 2002-02-08 at 07:46:04 -0500, Paul Schmidt wrote:
> > >
> > > > [MySQL] also could win an obfustication contest for it's licence, it's
> > > > sometimes GPL and other times not GPL, such as for commercial use...
> >
> > On 11 Feb 2002, at 10:41, David K. Trudgett wrote:
> > > Sounds illegal. The GPL doesn't allow conditions like that.
> > >
>On Monday 2002-02-11 at 12:38:15 -0500, Paul Schmidt wrote:
> >
> > Essentially, without paying a lawyer to figure it out, from what I
> > understand they have two licences, a GPL one (not LGPL -- which
> > would negate the other licence) which is fine if your developing stuff
> > that will be GPL, but if your doing commercial projects, then they
> > have a commercial licence, and it's not cheap.

At 02:33 AM 2/13/2002 +1100, David K. Trudgett wrote:

>My comment would be that, without having read the actual doc (which I
>may well do when I get half a chance), such a restriction is in effect
>unenforceable and no restriction at all.

Having read GPL (and several other licenses) quite carefully and having
consulted with several lawyers, I think that what MySQL is doing is both
legal and reasonably straightforward. MySQL AB is the copyright holder
and has the right to offer the product under different licenses.

The GPL is a restrictive license. Products licensed under GPL can not
be combined with products distributed under other licenses. Specifically,
the GPL requires that all software that uses GPL products must be GPL -
provided with source and available for free redistribution. This is
called "copy left" by the Free Software Foundation, and "viral licensing"
by the rest of the world.

So, if you're developing Free Software under the FSF definition, you
can use the GNU licensed MySQL. If you want to protect the sources
of your program or restrict your customers' ability pass it on to
their friends, you need a commercial license.

That is a significant difference between Firebird (and InterBase Open
Edition) and MySQL. Our license does not affect the licenses of products
built on our databases.

Regards,

Ann






Regards,

Ann
www.ibphoenix.com
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