----- Original Message -----
From: Vince Bonfanti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, February 6, 2004 9:05 am
Subject: RE: MySQL and CF
> Not to comment at all on its technical merits, anyone using MySQL
> should be
> familiar with their licensing terms. Specifically, MySQL is *not*
> free for
> commercial development. If you use MySQL for a commercial product
> and don't
> purchase a commercial license, then you run the risk of inadvertently
> releasing your source code for free.
>
> MySQL is released under GPL, unlike Linux, for example, which is
> releasedunder LGPL. Under the LGPL, if you write an application
> that runs on Linux
> you can redistribute that application without releasing the source
> code.Under the GPL, however, if you release an application that
> runs on MySQL,
> then you must release the source code of your application.
>
> Here are the relevant quotes from the MySQL licensing page on
> their web
> site:
>
> http://www.mysql.com/products/licensing.html
>
> Regarding their Open Source license, which is the GPL:
>
> "The Open Source License allows you to use the software at no
> chargeunder the condition that if you use MySQL in an application you
> redistribute, the complete source code for your application must be
> available and freely redistributable under reasonable conditions."
>
> If you don't want to release the source code of your application,
> you must
> purchase a commercial license:
>
> "The Commercial License, which allows you to provide
> commercial software
> licenses to your customers or distribute MySQL-based applications
> withinyour organization. This is for organizations that do not
> want to release the
> source code for their applications as open source / free software;
> in other
> words they do not want to comply with the GNU General Public
> License (GPL)."
>
> Note that it's not just the MySQL database that's covered under these
> license terms--they also apply to the MySQL JDBC and ODBC drivers.
> (This is
> the reason BlueDragon no longer ships the MySQL JDBC driver).
>
> So if you use MySQL--be careful. If you don't purchase a
> commercial license,
> anyone can demand that you give them your source code under the
> terms of the
> GPL license.
>
> Vince Bonfanti
> New Atlanta Communications, LLC
> http://www.newatlanta.com
>
>
>
>
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