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Re: [epl-discuss] GPL compatibility

I am definitely not an expert on this sort of thing, but my somewhat-educated-guesses are in-lined below. I hope that some of the more experienced people on this list can support or refute my thoughts below.

On 10/7/2016 2:50 PM, Ian Skerrett wrote:

For instance, the Eclipse Leshan project re-uses/consumes/includes the Eclipse Californium project. I’d like to understand the implication if one project agrees to GPL compatibility but the other project does not. 

Scenerio 1: The Eclipse Californium project specifies that their EPL license is GPL compatible but the Eclipse Leshan does not agree to GPL compatibility.  I am assuming this means the entire Eclipse Leshan project would not be GPL compatible.  The Californium bits would be GPL compatible but only available from the Californium download page?


That is correct. In this example, Eclipse Leshan could not be included in a GPL-licensed larger work, while Eclipse Californium could be.

Scenerio 2: Eclipse Californium specific their EPL license is NOT GPL compatible but the Eclipse Leshan does specify EPL is compatible with GPL. If Leshan consumers Californium, does this make the entire Leshan project not compatible?  Maybe a general question, do all downstream EPL license technology need to be GPL compatible to allow the aggregate to be compatible.


I believe that the answer to the general question is that yes, the entire aggregate must be comprised of GPL-compatible licenses. Which means that a new Eclipse project that was interested in being GPL-compatible would have to consider its prerequisites carefully in order to accomplish that objective.

I would also point out that in my mind an existing Eclipse project licensed under the EPL 1.0 would have a difficult task ahead of them if they want to become GPL-compatible under the EPL 2.0. They would need to seek the approval of all of their past contributors in order to make it possible. We would have to ensure that the drafting reflects that.

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