Hi Wayne,
Let me clarify this for
you and other PMC members. This topic was actively discussed
with Mike and Bjorn few years ago, but as far as
Technology PMC members changed last year I should provide an
update.
The
problem
We faced with licensing
problem since initial project commit. Our project consists
of two p art s: Subversive itself and SVN connectors -
libraries we use for SVN access. There are two libraries -
pure Java SVNKit and
native JavaHL. The first one is a standalone library with
its own
EPL-incompatible license. JavaHL is a p art of SVN project
that has EPL compatible license (Apache license). But JavaHL
includes licenses with GPL licenses (Neon library) that
makes it
EPL-incompatible.
Temporary
solution
Once the problem was
detected by the legal team during project migration to
Eclipse it was agreed
with Bjorn, Mike and legal team that
JavaHL is declared as "exempt pre-req" and SVNKit is
declared as
"works with" external dependencies that should be
distributed from
extrnal location (Polarion site). This solution allowed us
to st art development on Eclipse and join Simultaneous
releases. But legal issues with SVN connectors that are
required p art of project, Subversive can't complete
graduation
and become a candidate for inclusion into standard
distribution.
Approaches
to resolve the problem
The legal blocker was
really annoying for us, so in 2008 and 2009 we tried to
resolve it. We had few
meetings with Bjorn and Mike on
EclipseCons to discuss next steps, but unfortunately the
legal problem was too
complicated to be resol ved . The
slide #15 shows agreed plan from that time. Then we decided
to try resolve the
problem from another side and contacted SVN team reporting
license issues. Actually
license compatibility issue was also important for SVN team
and they had in
plans to replace GPL-licensed Neon library by LGPL-licensed
library. It seems
to will happen this year when SVN 1.7 will be resol ved .
Summary
At the current moment
there are no technical issues with the project distribution.
It's distributed
from 2 sites (eclipse and polarion), but Connectors
Discovery feature helps to
make project installation painless for end-users.
I also updated slide
#15 (re-download from http://www.eclipse.org/subversive/publications/Subversive-Indigo-Review.pdf
)
to reflect the current situation and highlight potential
problem solution after
SVN 1.7 release.
Best regards,
Igor Vinnykov
Subversive Team
Hi Igor. How do you define "required" in
"Board allows GPL code to be required" on slide 15? Is this
different
from the Workswith dependency the project already has on
SVNKit?
FWIW, the "Board allows GPL code to be distributed from
eclipse.org"
option is a non-st art er.
Wayne
On 05/30/2011 02:06 PM, Igor Vinnykov wrote:
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