syntap0 wrote:

> Has anyone researched the issue of the legality of using prior
> Interbase client licenses against Firebird?
>
> I'm in a situation where I have an app in Interbase 5.6 and I'd like
> to replace the server with Firebird 1.5. The client apps (Delphi
> apps) are installed with a the Interbase 5.6 client, and all tests
> seem to indicate that this setup works fine after backing up all
> database files in 5.6 and restoring to Firebird 1.5. I want to keep
> the 5.6 client because I have a reserved word compatibility issue (a
> field named "TYPE") using the Firebird client and the built-in
> versioning parser in Firebird makes this a non-issue.
>
> The Interbase 5.6 license text doesn't address this issue well... it
> talks about the requirement for the proper number of concurrent
> licenses for the server (which we have for the 5.6 server), but with
> Firbird this isn't an issue for obvious reasons.
>
> The Interbase 5.6 client also works well as a Firebird database manager.
>
> Any thoughts?

Since the Client does not have any restriction one WHICH 5.6 Server they
connect to, I don't see a licensing problem, but given that 5.6 was
never totally finished ( you are using the *5.1* client so that events
don't mess things up ! and which bits of 5.5 were needed to complete a
totally stable installation? ) I would say that removing *ALL* the 5.6
servers would be a good move anyway. At which point you can switch to a
more current and reliable client (Firebird's) without any licensing
restrictions and without any potential problems when upgrading.

--
Lester Caine
-----------------------------
L.S.Caine Electronic Services